Compromise
by euroteres
Summary: A/U: Six months after the events of the Cell Games, Gohan still hasn't dealt with the anger and sadness that his father's choice has brought him. Desperate to do something more than just spend his time studying, he comes up with a proposal he hopes will persuade his overprotective mother into giving him some much needed freedom.
1. A Doomed Proposal

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of it's characters.

* * *

"GOOOHAAAANNNN! GET UP ALREADY OR YOU WON'T GET ANY BREAKFAST YOUNG MAN" a shrill voice called out, disrupting the young demi-saiyan's peaceful dreams. Groaning, the young boy blinked blearily, staring at the ceiling for a few moments before pushing himself up and out of his bed. He drowsily staggered over to his closet and pulled out a set of clothes to wear for the day, not that he had much of a selection to choose from. His mother had a very strict idea of what she thought was suitable for studying in and as such there were two or three different outfits. There were a few training gis hanging as well but Kami help him if he walked out of his room in one of those.

Sighing, Gohan pulled out a random set and began to groggily pull the shirt and pants on. He was still half asleep, which was normal for most mornings. He'd wake up, stumble into some clothes and only really wake up when he smelled the food on the table. This wasn't going to be a normal morning though. As he shuffled towards the door to his room he glanced towards the full body mirror next to it…and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Shit."

It wasn't the kind of language one would expect from someone who was still ten as far as the law was concerned, but Gohan wasn't a normal ten year old kid. From the time he had been four he'd been thrust into life or death struggles, one after the next, with the stakes getting higher each and every time. He'd seen more lives snuffed out in six years than all but a few and had been on the receiving end of the kind of brutality that would turn even the most war weary veterans of Earth into sniveling children. It was a truth he'd tried to shove into the background of his thoughts for the last few months. It was a truth that was at that moment staring him right in the face.

The mirror reflected a young boy in black pants and a white, long sleeved, button up shirt. His hair and eyes, both normally black, were bleach blond and teal respectively. He was the spitting image of a boy in the photo on his bedside table. A boy who had been celebrating his birthday when that photo was taken. A boy whose father was standing next to him, both with massive grins plastered on their faces. A father who was no longer alive by his own choice.

Blinking his eyes in order to fight back the tears he relaxed himself and powered down, his hair and eyes returning to their natural black color. After roughly a year of maintaining the Super Saiyan transformation full time it had become almost synonymous with breathing, and it was nearly impossible to tell the difference between his transformed and base state if he was distracted, or in this case, half asleep. He had accidentally shifted into the form several times in the last few months, especially early in the morning when he still wasn't fully conscious of himself or his surroundings.

His thoughts drifted back to the first time it had happened after the Cell Games, his mother screaming that all the fighting and his father's death had finally turned him into a delinquent. He had asked for the mirror to be installed shortly after that, not wanting to have to listen to that lecture more than one time, and it had worked perfectly. Though he sometimes had to deal with some painful reminders of what had happened a few months ago, like today.

Taking a deep breath, Gohan pushed open his door and walked out into the kitchen. His mother Chi-Chi was busy at the stove, finishing up cooking the large pile of food that would be breakfast. She turned, seeming ready to shout again when she spotted him standing near the table. She looked startled for a moment but was quickly smiling at her son.

"Oh there you are Gohan. I was worried you'd oversleep and miss out on precious studying time." She turned back to the stove, stopping momentarily and putting her hand to the prominent bulge in her stomach. "Now eat up quickly so you can get started on your assigned studies for the day," she ordered.

Gohan looked at all the food on the table and began to feel his body acknowledge the hunger he was feeling. He sat down and promptly began to devour the assembled dishes, doing his best to assure that he didn't cause food to splatter all over the place, succeeding where his father had failed. His father never had learned the intricacies of table manners. The permanent faded stains on the walls were a testament to that. Several minutes later, with his hunger abated, he began to pile up his dishes and bring them over to the sink.

"Thank you Gohan, now go start your studying," his mother said, grabbing one of the dishes and beginning to scrub. Gohan nodded and went off to his room, sitting down at the large desk that was situated against the wall across from his bed. Only a few months prior it had been covered in books every day, but about a week after the Cell Games his mother had realized that he was going through the materials far faster than new books could get mailed to the small house out in the middle of the 439 mountain area, so she had purchased a desktop computer and signed him up for an accelerated track set of online courses.

It had taken him about a week to get the hang of using the computer but after that he had continued to outpace even the accelerated course load, not that he had let his mother know. For a while he had used studying as a way to dull the pain of losing his father, let it consume his thoughts as he threw himself into the course work. It hadn't taken long for that to become inadequate though, especially with how quickly he was moving through through it all, so he had taken to searching the internet to see what he could learn. He had been particularly interested in learning about how the public school system worked and it had given him an idea, one he wanted to bring up with his mother today during lunch.

Sighing, he spent the next hour finishing up that day's homework before opening a new webpage and logging into his rather recently formed email account. It had been about a week since he had learned about email from one of his fellow classmates online and after creating an account through the online school he had made a quick call to Bulma in order to learn her own email address. This of course had resulted in him getting secondary account on the Capsule Corp servers when she realized that this could be a way for her to secure what she knew to be one of brightest young minds of his generation for the mega corp. It was that account he was on now, looking over the emails he had gotten since yesterday. As of yet they were still all from Bulma, though she had assured him that she would pass along the contact details of other employees when he had learned enough to partake in some of the technical discussions.

Speaking of learning enough, the email he had just opened was another of Bulma's video lectures. Plugging in the headphones that had come as a specialty offer along with the computer, he began to listen to Bulma's newest video lecture, Basic Capsule Theory Part Three. He loved the challenge that came along with understanding everything in the videos. He might have already learned the equivalent of a student about to enter high school, but that did little to help him understand something as complex as even the basics of capsule technology. It was an incredible challenge and it excited him, a combination of his saiyan drive to constantly better himself and human curiosity pushing him to figure everything out to its completion. He watched and rewatched every video several times, greedily drinking in the knowledge and attempting to put them together as a unified whole.

He wished he could talk to Bulma face to face about the subject. He wanted to be sure he was understanding everything and it really wasn't the same communicating with her through email. He was brought back to his thoughts on what he wanted to talk to his mother about and it encouraged him to look towards the small time display on the lower corner of the computer screen. The time showed 11:30, half an hour before his mother usually called him down for lunch, causing him to blink in surprise. He hadn't realized that so much time had passed and he had already spent several hours watching Bulma's video lectures. He turned his attention back to the lecture he was currently watching, but gave up within a few moments, no longer able to pay attention to the video.

"I suppose now's as good a time as in half an hour," he muttered to himself. He typed up a quick email to Bulma and then quickly got up and left his room. Within a few seconds he had found his mother in the kitchen, working on that day's lunch, a big pot of stew that would probably last a two or three days if Gohan avoided completely pigging out. He stood there a few moments, mentally preparing himself before clearing his throat softly to catch Chi-Chi's attention.

She turned quickly, looking surprised. "Oh Gohan you surprised me. What are you doing out of your room? Is there something wrong with your studies?"

Gohan's voice caught in his throat, his nerves getting the better of him for a moment before he shook himself and began to speak. "No, nothing's wrong with my studies, though I did want to discuss something concerning them."

"Oh no, oh no. Is the course work too hard? Is it too easy? Do you need me to get you into a more advanced course set?" she asked, looking worried.

"No no, nothing like that. Actually I wanted to ask you…" he paused for a moment. "I wanted...to ask you...if I...if I could have a few hours each day to do what I want, free of studying."

Chi-Chi's expression froze and there was a nerve wracking few seconds of silence before she opened her mouth to speak in a voice that was dangerously calm. "And do pray tell, what would you do with those few hours of free time?"

"Ah…well I was hoping I could do things like visit everyone at Kame house or Mr. Piccolo up on The Lookout or even go to Caps-"

"I knew it!" Chi-Chi interrupted, "I knew those no good layabouts that your father was friends with would be a bad influence on you! Especially that big green monster!"

"Mr. Piccolo is not a-"

"Oh my poor baby's growing up to be a delinquent! I knew I should have never let you go off on all those dangerous adventures with your father and his friends!" Chi-Chi's rant was reaching a fever pitch and it was clear she wasn't listening to a word Gohan was trying to say. He couldn't believe that things had gone this badly this quickly. Sure he had expected her to get angry with the idea at first, but he had thought she would at least give him a chance to explain his motives.

"-and what would your father say if he saw you like this!" Something in Gohan snapped at that. He had been subdued by his mother's outburst before, but now that she had brought his father into the equation like she had he couldn't help but get angry.

"I'M SURE HE'D BE DISAPPOINTED THAT I'VE BECOME A PRISONER IN MY OWN HOME!" he shouted, stopping his mother's rant in its tracks. She opened her mouth to retaliate but he cut her off. "I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT MY FATHER SACRIFICED HIMSELF TO SAVE US ALL AND THEN REFUSED TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE ONLY TO HAVE HIS SON FORCED TO BE A SHUT IN WITH LITTLE TO NO INTERACTION WITH OTHER PEOPLE!" He paused to breath for a moment, but started up again before his mother could get a word in edgewise. "I get that you're scared now that dad got killed, once again while fighting, but I'm several times stronger than he was at his death! If anything out there could actually hurt me I'd hope you'd be more concerned about the well being of the world rather than locking away the one person who might be able to deal with that kind of threat because you're scared your precious baby might get a scratch!"

"How dare you speak to me that way young man!" Chi-Chi shouted back, looking furious. Gohan however, had had enough. Before she could even ask him where he was going he was out the door, and by the time she was out after him he had disappeared into the sky.

* * *

**AN: So there's the first chapter of Compromise. It's really only the opening scene, but be sure to let me know what you think :D**


	2. Innocent Trigger

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of its affiliated characters.

* * *

Gohan blasted through the sky at supersonic speeds, trying and failing to sort through the tumultuous mix of emotions he was saddled with at that moment. Anger, sadness, confusion, desperation and loneliness all raged in a hopeless mix. Hours passed and he lost track of how many trips he made around the world, only noticing the constant change in weather and temperature as an afterthought.

Finally, he decided to land near a forest a few miles outside the city limits of Orange Star City, though it was currently called Satan city now that he thought about it. He had come across that piece of information during a project that involved researching the new "world savior". He sat down and leaned back to look at the sky as he became immersed in his thoughts on _that _particular situation in an attempt to push aside his raging emotions.

He remembered getting a call from Bulma only a month after the Cell Games about the man who had taken credit for Gohan's victory over the monster. At the time he had turned down her suggestion that they show the world that he was a fraud. He hadn't wanted any of the attention that would have come with revealing that he had killed Cell, especially so soon after his father's death. He had however begun to regret that decision, if only because the man had turned out to be an insufferable showboating fool who had the nerve, _the gall, _to call his father and friends dirty tricksters.

The man was calling ancient, advanced techniques light shows and smoke and mirrors and what was worse was that people were buying it. Never mind that the area where the Cell Games had taken place had been almost completely destroyed or that for years those techniques had been seen and accepted as advanced techniques at the 21st, 22nd and 23rd World Martial Arts Tournaments. No, most people ate up the fool's words like the Greek Gods' ambrosia. He had learned that the hard way through discussions on the online class forums. There were very few people who hadn't outright ridiculed him for stating that Hercule was wrong in his claims, and there was certainly no one who had openly supported him.

Openly being the key word of course. There was one person who had let him know they believed him through the school's private messaging system and the two had quickly become good friends, though Gohan still avoided giving away any personal details. It was hard to know if you could trust someone if you'd never once seen their face. The person went under the username of Constantine, though whether or not that was his real name Gohan didn't know. The online school was surprisingly lax on that end and he himself went under the username of Nimbus.

Gohan sighed, turning his thoughts back towards the failed confrontation with his mother, his emotions now calm enough for him to think straight. He had planned everything out, thinking that she'd remain reasonable and let him speak his part. Of course any notions of that happening had flown right out the window within twenty seconds of him opening his mouth. He probably should have opened up with his plans to go to Capsule Corp and learn advanced subjects from Bulma rather than leave it for last now that he thought of it.

He also _probably _should have avoided exploding in her face like he had, but when she had brought up his father like that it had brought up memories of the Cell Games again. It was then that he realized something.

She didn't know.

Sure, she knew that her husband had died facing that monster and that Gohan had been the one to finally destroy him, but she didn't know the specifics. He had found recordings of the Cell Games footage and every one of them had cut off right at the point he had ascended beyond being a basic Super Saiyan, presumably due to some of the debris that had been violently launched from his position by the energy released during the transformation.

When he had finally gotten home, he had barely had enough time to let her know that her husband was dead and that he himself had destroyed Cell before the crying and screaming had started. When they had both finally calmed down neither had had the energy to talk about the specifics and had both gone to bed after a quick dinner. The next morning came and much like any other Chi Chi had directed him towards his books without any further questions about the events of the Cell Games.

It really was the standard Chi Chi response now that he thought about it. He returned from a year away from home after the fight with Vegeta and Nappa? Get back to studying when the casts come off Gohan. He returned from his trip to Namek and learned that his father had beat Frieza and was still alive but refused to be brought home? Come home and study Gohan. He came back from the Cell Games and had to tell her that her husband had refused to be brought back to life? Get back to studying Gohan.

He had thrown himself into his studies without complaint of course, happy to find something to distract himself from his thoughts on the events that had transpired...he was regretting that now. He had bottled up all of the painful memories and emotions and the first time he had let them out it had resulted in him screaming bloody murder at his mother. He could _not _let that kind of behavior become his go to method for relieving stress, especially with how closely his powers were tied to his emotions. One badly timed fit of rage and he could easily have innocent blood on his hands.

"Hey, what are you doing out here all alone? It's not safe to be out in the forest all alone you know," a young voice reprimanded from behind him. Surprised out of his thoughts he twisted around to see a young girl in a loose t-shirt and shorts, probably around his age he guessed. She had long black hair that was pulled up in a raised ponytail with several loose locks of hair framing her face. She had large, clear blue eyes that were currently fixed on him in what was presumably supposed to be a death glare.

Gohan, having been dealt much more terrifying glares by villains like Frieza and Cell as well as the horrifying ones his mother could give, was completely unaffected.

'_She's cute,' _Gohan thought to himself, before realizing that he hadn't responded to her yet.

"I could ask you the same thing you know. I live in the mountains so I'm used to going out and about on my own. What's your excuse?" he countered. The girl looked startled for a moment, though whether it was due to Gohan's statement that he lived in the mountains or that he seemed to be completely unfazed by the glare she was giving was unclear. The girl was off balance for only a moment though, her bravado returning and her chest puffing out with self-importance.

"I'll have you know that I'm here with my daddy, and he's the strongest person in the world!" the girl declared.

"Oh really? Strongest in the world huh?" Gohan asked, grinning in amusement.

"You bet he is! My daddy is the best! He destroyed that nasty Mr. Cell with a single Satan Punch!"

Gohan nearly face planted at that statement. He had been suspicious for a moment when she called her father the strongest person in the world, but to think that this girl was _actually _Hercule Satan's daughter was almost unbelievable. He almost couldn't believe that a girl as cute as this one could be the daughter of _that _man. Aside from the color of her hair he honestly couldn't see any point of resemblance between the two. _'She must get her looks from her mother,' _Gohan thought to himself.

"So who are you?" the girl asked.

"Oh, my name's-"

"No wait, don't tell me! I know why you look familiar!" the girl exclaimed, cutting Gohan off. "You're the Delivery Boy! The one who fought Cell before my daddy finished him off!"

Gohan nearly had a panic attack then and there. How on earth could she recognize him in his base for-. Both his thoughts and body froze in realization. He wasn't in his base form currently, but in his Super Saiyan one. He must have transformed without realizing it at some point during or after his outburst in front of his mother.

'_Dammit all! Do I have _any _self-control today?!' _he mentally berated himself. He was yanked out of his thoughts as the girl continued talking.

"You're really lucky you know! Tricksters like you and that guy who fought before you tried to upstage my daddy and you're lucky he saved you when he did! You weren't too bad about it but that guy who fought before you was terrible! He used all kinds of dirty tricks and light shows to make my daddy look bad! You should be glad that my daddy stepped in and showed you how it's done!" the girl crowed triumphantly.

Almost any other day Gohan would have shrugged off the girl's insults. She was a somewhere around ten year old girl who idolized her father and wouldn't believe for a second that he would lie to her. At worst Gohan might have laughed at her and then gave a demonstration of the so called tricks by punching through one of the many trees surrounding them or floating a few feet off the ground.

Unfortunately, this was not a normal day. Gohan currently had a massive knot of dark emotions still fresh from his encounter with his mother that had most certainly _not _been dealt with, rather repressed. The unfortunate daughter of Mr. Satan had unknowingly tossed a lit match on an oil soaked explosive and she was about to face the consequences.

* * *

Hercule Satan had been enjoying a carefree day in the woods with his daughter and joy of his world Videl. He hadn't had much free time away from the press to spend with her since he had claimed credit for the destruction of the monster known as Cell. If he was going to be completely honest with himself he would probably still be living it up in front of the cameras right now if he hadn't gotten a wake-up call one week prior in the form of his wife shoving divorce papers in his face with her signature already on them, claiming that he was no longer the man she had fallen in love with.

He hadn't been able to convince the woman that he was still very much in love with to stay with him, but at the very least she hadn't pressed to have full custody of their daughter, knowing how much the little girl looked up to her father. The woman had gotten fed up with him but she still didn't have a single spiteful bone in her body.

After that he had shaped up a bit, making sure to spend quality time away from the cameras with his little girl when he could. He wasn't about to give up the fame of course. He had always dreamed of entering the entertainment business if his passion for martial arts hadn't gotten him anywhere and now he had the best of both worlds.

He had let Videl run ahead of him through the forest, laughing softly at her childish enthusiasm and energy. The girl never seemed to get tired, and she was already showing a great deal of promise in her practice of the martial arts so he wasn't all that worried about her. He _was _starting to wonder where she'd gotten off to though. It had been several minutes since he'd last heard her, let alone seen her and she was usually better about making sure her father didn't worry about her.

He stopped for a moment, quickly looking up into the trees to make sure she wasn't trying to get the drop on him. He didn't think she would actually be able to climb most of these trees, but small children had a way of doing things that most people didn't think was possible for them to do. Assuring himself that shein fact _hadn't_ managed to get herself stuck in a tree, he allowed himself a soft chuckle.

"She probably got distracted by some flowers or a lizard," he mumbled to himself. That was when he heard it. The sound of his little girl's voice sounding triumphant.

"-all kinds of dirty tricks and light shows to make my daddy look bad! You should be glad that my daddy stepped in and showed you how it's done!"

If she had said it even a bit differently Hercule would have gladly exploded onto the scene in full bravado, ready to play up to his daughter's expectations. What stopped him from doing so was the fact that it sounded like she was actually talking to one of _them_. She was in all likelihood openly insulting a fighter who could probably snap her father over their leg like a twig.

He really had almost managed to convince himself that all the flying, inhuman strength and speed and balls of light that vaporized mountains were all tricks. That it was all some kind of hyper advanced special effects used to trick people into thinking that fighters could actually reach superhuman levels.

It was simply the possibility that his daughter was insulting one of those fighters that brought back memories of being swat aside into a small plateau several hundred feet away like an annoyance by that monster known as Cell. He could delude himself all he wanted into thinking that the flying, the speed and the light balls of death were fake, but that superhuman level of strength had been _very _real.

Hercule ran as fast as he could towards the sound of his daughter's voice, hoping that if those fighters hadn't come after him for insulting and defacing their abilities and turning a good majority of the world against them over the last six months that they wouldn't lay a hand on a ten year old girl who wouldn't know any better.

He rounded a rather large tree and spotted her down a slope. He was about to call out to her when he saw who it was she was with. Of all the people it could have been, it was _him_. The boy opened his mouth and spoke a short sentence that made Hercule's blood freeze in his veins.

"My father is not a fake."

* * *

**AN: And there's chapter 2. Poor Videl's flipped the switch on something her innocent 10 year old mind can't hope to comprehend and her father can't hope to do anything other than be frozen in fear, knowing _exactly _what the young boy in front of his daughter is capable of. For everyone's sake they better hope Gohan can keep control of the powerful negative emotions he's been trying to ignore for the last six months.**

**Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think :D**


	3. Innocent Slumber

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of the affiliated characters.

* * *

"My father is not a fake."

The words themselves weren't all that intimidating. They were really nothing more than a simple statement. It was how they were said that made Hercule's blood freeze.

The boy spoke in a voice that was completely calm…too calm. Hercule may have been an attention seeking, arrogant, buffoon of a man but he was by no means ignorant nor oblivious. There was a reason he had faked injury after his initial bout with Cell, and there was a reason why he couldn't get himself to move from where he was rooted. Just under that false calm was a terrible being, one that had seemed to take pleasure in torturing Cell when it had been last unleashed six months prior at the Cell Games.

Hercule could sense that what happened in the next few seconds was crucial in determining whether that being was released or not and he thought fast, desperate to dissolve the situation before it passed the point of no return. Luck was not on his side however, and his daughter, blissfully unaware of the noose she was putting around her neck, spoke up again.

"Ohhh, so that guy was your father huh? No wonder you look alike," the girl concluded. "Doesn't change that he's a big ol' faker like you though!"

There was silence. For several agonizing seconds Hercule waited for the end to come, certain that he and his daughter were about to meet a very sudden and violent death. When several more seconds passed with nothing happening he almost thought that they had somehow managed to avoid the danger by some miraculous stroke of luck when he became truly aware of something.

It was silent.

The sounds of the forest that had been present only moments before had completely died away. Hercule quickly looked at the boy and saw in his face a massive amount pain and turmoil that he would have never wished on any person.

Everything went to hell a moment later.

Light suddenly exploded from the young boy, tearing apart the ground around him. Hercule watched in terror as his little girl was forcefully launched into the air and towards a head on collision with one of the surrounding trees. Finally regaining the ability to move, Hercule desperately launched himself at her, getting himself between Videl and the tree. She slammed into him and after bouncing painfully off of the tree they landed roughly on the ground below.

He did his best to shield his now unconscious daughter's body from the oncoming debris, squinting to get a look at the boy as the explosive release of energy died down. As the dust cleared, Hercule could only hope that what he saw before him didn't signal the end of his life. There the boy was, his hair spiked up further than it had been a moment before, small discharges of electricity flickering around his body. His face was full of frustration and tears streamed down his face.

"My father was not a fake! He was a hero! He put his life on the line repeatedly for the people of this planet without ever being asked or expecting anything in return! At the very least people respected him for his appearances in three consecutive World Martial Arts Tournaments, but now his name gets dragged through the mud by some ignorant buffoon in order to prop up his lies!" the boy screamed.

Hercule frowned in confusion at that. The boy was obviously talking about him when he mentioned the ignorant buffoon, there wasn't much anybody else it could be in this context, but it sounded like the boy hadn't realized that said "buffoon" was lying not fifteen meters from him. Perhaps his vision was marred by the tears in his eyes…or the waves of anger that were rippling off the boy's body.

"He's not even alive anymore after sacrificing himself in the fight against Cell to save every ungrateful person on this planet, but I can't even mention his name anymore without being ridiculed about his use of light tricks! You want to see a light trick?! HAVE A LOOK!"

The boy lifted his hand and pointed it off to the side. A small orb of light coalesced only centimeters away from his hand. It stayed there for a moment before shooting away into the woods. Hercule's eyes followed its path, almost losing it before it seemed to impact on a tree.

In an instant light exploded outwards from the point of impact covering a massive swath of land. Hercule could hear the explosion incinerating all it consumed, could feel the heat that radiated off of the blast. In a few seconds the blast had dissipated and the aftermath became visible. Everything covered by the light was gone, with nothing but an empty crater where forest had been before.

Hercule couldn't help but tremble at the display of power. The boy had destroyed an area several hundred meters in diameter with what appeared to be absolutely no effort at all. What kind of destruction could he unleash when he was trying? The boy took a step towards Hercule and his daughter and the man prepared himself for the worst.

It was then that luck seemed to finally swing the champ's way. A strange figure fell out of the sky, landing near the boy. The little skin Hercule could see on the figure was green…one of those fighters who had appeared at the Cell Games!

"GOHAN! GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!" the figure shouted, grabbing the boy's shoulder and attempting to turn him to face them. The boy, now revealed to be named Gohan, swat at the green man's arms in a motion that Hercule's eyes couldn't follow, slicing them off at the elbows.

"GAAAAAAAAHHH!" the green man screamed, his face contorted in pain. "DAMMIT GOHAN! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!"

The boy named Gohan seemed to become aware of his surroundings at that. He turned to look at the green man and his eyes widened. In an instant the aura of death that had fallen upon the forest faded at the same time as the boy's hair floated downward, changing from golden to black.

'_What in the world?' _Hercule thought to himself.

"No…no no no no…Mr. Piccolo, I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to," the boy stuttered out. It was then that he seemed to notice the massive crater where a good chunk of the forest had previously been. "Oh Kami no. I didn't…please tell me nobody…" his eyes desperate as he looked at the green man.

"You didn't kill anyone."

The boy's shoulders sagged in obvious relief. It was then that Hercule really took a look at the boy, saw how young he looked.

'_Why, he can't be much older than my Videl…how on earth did such a young boy get the kind of power needed to destroy Cell? That freak annihilated the armed forces without breaking a sweat! What kind of hell must this boy have needed to go through to obtain what he has?'_

"Mr. Piccolo, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine Gohan. Go to The Lookout."

"But Mr. Piccolo-"

"_Go,_" the green man said, the tone of his voice allowing no further argument on the matter. The boy lowered his head in obedience and suddenly took off into the sky, flying in the opposite direction of Satan City. The green man watched the boy for a moment before looking forward and giving a strained grunt. Suddenly two new, fully formed arms burst from what had been stumps. The memory of Cell doing the same thing nearly had Hercule fainting in terror.

Then the green man looked over at him, seeming to be considering something. Sighing, he made his way over to Hercule.

"G-g-get away f-from us!" Hercule cried out, clutching his daughter closer to his chest. "Y-y-your just like C-Cell, regenerating b-body parts like it's nothing!"

"Don't compare me to that genetic cocktail of a monstrosity," the green man stated curtly as he continued to approach. "It's bad enough that that freak got my regenerative capabilities and coloring from my DNA. I'd rather not have to listen to an ignorant buffoon draw the comparison."

Hercule was dumbfounded into silence, trying and failing to comprehend what the giant of a man had said. The green man took the opportunity to fish something out of the sash around his waist and tossed it at Hercule, who caught it reflexively. Looking at what he had caught he saw a small, shriveled up bean. He looked up questioningly at the green man.

"It's a senzu bean. When ingested it completely restores the vitality of the person who eats it, healing any and all physical wounds short of death and fulfilling the average human's nutritional intake for ten days. Split it between you and your daughter," the green man ordered, turning to leave.

"W-wait!" Hercule shouted, causing the man to stop and look back at him. "H-how do I know y-y-you aren't trying to p-poison me?"

"Because if I wanted to kill you I wouldn't resort to something as unsure as poison. I'd just do it myself," the green man bluntly stated. "The only reason I even considered giving you the bean is your daughter. I could care less if you got a bit roughed up, but the boy wouldn't forgive me if he learned that I had brought a senzu along and not offered to heal her."

With that the green man launched into the air, quickly disappearing from sight. Hercule stared at where the man had been for a moment before looking down at the bean in his hand. He turned his attention to his daughter and for the first time became aware of the numerous cuts and bruises all over her body, caused by the violent spray of debris that had been caused by the boy's transformation, some of which looked relatively severe. Making his decision he quickly split the dried up bean in half, popped the smaller half into his mouth and swallowed. After a moment of fearful waiting he felt all of the cuts and bruises on his body fade.

Not wasting any time he pushed the other half into his daughter's mouth and coaxed her to swallow. Within seconds the cuts on her body closed up and her bruises faded. She stirred for a moment before snuggling closer into her father's warm chest. Hercule smiled softly and grunted as he got himself off the ground, making sure to jostle his daughter as little as possible.

Holding her close he looked around at the bloodless carnage. _'I don't know whether I should be terrified that a young child has that much power at their fingertips or grateful that he hasn't turned that power against the world. That _none of them _have.'_

Hercule contemplated what he would do, now that he had once again witnessed the unworldly power that those fighters possessed. He knew that he couldn't take back what he'd said now. First of all he had no clue where any of them lived and secondly, if he announced his lies to the world now he'd be ruined. He couldn't do that to his daughter. The divorce had hurt her enough already and he couldn't turn her father into a dirty no good liar so soon after.

Sighing, he pulled a capsule out of his pocket and tossed it to the ground after clicking the button on top, causing the unassuming two person jetcopter the father and daughter had used to get to the forest to materialize. Hercule continued to ponder how he would go about doing things from this point onward, but images of a teal eyed, golden haired boy kept interrupting his train of thought.

'_I suppose I'll have time to think about it in the morning. I'm sure if I think hard enough I'll eventually find a good point of compromise…'_

* * *

Videl woke to the sound of the jetcopter taking off. Blinking wearily she stared blankly at the sky for a moment before turning to look at her father.

"What happened?" she asked. "I remember a boy, a bright light and then a lot of pain. What happened to me daddy?"

Hercule glanced over at his daughter, surprised to see her awake so soon. "You took a nasty fall and hit your head sweet pea. I didn't see any sign of another person when I found you. He must have been someone you dreamed up while you were out," he consoled, caressing the girl's sleepy face. "Why don't you go back to sleep sweetheart. You must exhausted after all the fun you had today."

Strangely, even though she knew her father's words about her being exhausted should probably be true, she felt like she was full of energy, ready for hours more of running around and exploring the forest that was so very different from the city. She was still bleary eyed from her unexpected nap though, and her father's hand was so big and warm, like a nice, firm pillow.

Sighing contentedly she snuggled into her newfound pillow and almost immediately fell back to sleep. Hercule chuckled softly to himself and proceeded to fly back to the mansion that was their home, though at a much slower speed than he had used to get them to the forest. He couldn't bring himself to deprive his daughter of the pillow she seemed so content to have.

* * *

Videl woke again to a bright light shining in her eyes. Grumbling she rolled over to go back to sleep before suddenly bolting upwards.

'_What? Where? Forest. Delivery Boy! Jetcopter. Daddy's hand. Bed? Whose bed? My bed. My room. I'm home…' _her thoughts raced madly, calming as she fully woke up and became aware of her surroundings. She took a moment longer to take in her surroundings and sort through her jumbled memories of the previous day.

"I saw the Delivery Boy, and something he did caused me a lot of pain…but daddy said that I tripped and hit my head on a rock...It didn't feel like a drea-" Videl's eyes widened. If all of that pain had been real she should have a lot of cuts and bruises all over shouldn't she? She shuffled out of her bed and popped over to the full length mirror in her room, noticing in passing that she was in her pajamas. _'Daddy must have changed me while I slept.'_

Using the mirror, she began to make a thorough inspection of her body, looking for cuts, bruises, or even scars that would have surely been left by what she thought had occurred. Finally, her inspection reached her head and after looking over the left side of her face and having found no scars besides the ones she was aware of having before yesterday she was forced to conclude that her father had been right. As she twisted to inspect the other side of her face, she pondered why she didn't have any of the pain she would have thought would accompany a head injury bad enough to knock her out.

Her train of thought was cut off as she gasped. There, starting at the far corner of her right eye and trailing back into her hairline was a thin white scar.

"I suppose that definitely supports what daddy said happened…" Videl muttered to herself. She walked over to her alarm clock to check something. "Yep, it's only been one night." Having confirmed that she wondered for a moment how she had healed and scarred so quickly but quickly abandoned the thought.

"Daddy was awesome enough to beat Cell. I'm sure he knows all kinds of amazing martial arts secrets about making things heal really fast!" Having satisfied herself with that answer, she turned her thoughts to the Delivery Boy. "I wonder why I dreamed about him? Nobody's seen him or any of those other fighters since the Cell Games…maybe Erasa will know what to think of it!"

With that plan made, Videl excitedly began to get ready for school that morning.

* * *

**And with that the third chapter is over. At first I didn't actually plan to have Videl appear until later and during a completely different scenario, but I'm actually glad I did it this way. My other scenario actually relied a great deal on her straight up not believing what was practically shoved in her face and the way the story is panning out I still need her to remain believably "ignorant" for a good deal of time yet. I also wasn't originally going to have the jetcopter scene and was instead going to have her wake up while getting tucked in, but I felt the irresistible urge to add in that hand pillow bit of fluff. I blame my mother running a daycare out of the home for most of my life for that one . though I do think that Hercule's hands are probably the biggest hands in the series aside from meaty mac Dodoria's, Burter's, Recoome's, Second Form Frieza's...King Cold's...Imma shut up now while I'm behind.**

**It'll be a while before we Videl again so be sure to wish her well. I'm sure you can all guess how her conversation with Erasa about her "dream" will go, so be sure to wish her the best of luck XD**

**On another note, Hercule is an interesting character that I honestly don't think gets played around with enough in fanfiction. He tends to fall into either semi sympathetic, fame obsessed blowhard or a complete ass who's let the fame go so far to his head that he's all but abandoned his daughter. I'm hoping to take him a slightly separate route with this chapter as the catalyst. There should be a few hints here and there as to how he's changed and I'll leave it to you readers to deduce that for yourselves.**

**We'll be heading back to Gohan's side of things in the next chapter to see what he and Piccolo do on The Lookout. Be sure to let me know what you think :D**


	4. Tearful Slumber

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of its affiliated characters

* * *

Piccolo flew back to The Lookout, thinking about how the day's events had played out so far. He was beyond relieved that he had arrived before irreparable damage had been done. The kind of damage that _couldn't _be repaired with the dragonballs. Gohan was currently on a mental teetering point, and if he had taken a life in his fit of rage today it would have broken him.

Piccolo couldn't be more relieved that he had been prepared for such an event, but he was saddened that his suspicions had proven true. Something had been off about Gohan in the months following the Cell Games, and though no one else seemed to have noticed, Piccolo had sensed it. He had taken to watching his former pupil from up on The Lookout in the days following the Cell Games based on that suspicion and what he had observed had bothered him.

After his first night home Gohan's temperament had changed. Instead of his normal happy self he was calm…quiet. For the first few days that had seemed normal. Gohan had lost his father and the man had refused to be brought back to life. It wasn't unnatural that the boy's personality might change after such an event.

Being calm was fine, but as the days passed by Piccolo noticed that it was almost the only emotion that ever showed on his former pupil's face. Rarely did anything other that damnable calm expression appear on the young boy's face. It wasn't natural! People grieved when they lost someone that close to them!

So Piccolo had watched and waited for six long months until the day he both feared and anticipated finally came. Gohan's power had flared violently and he had bolted out of his house a moment later in Super Saiyan form before rocketing into the air at supersonic speeds.

Piccolo had taken a brief moment to assure that the boy's mother was still in good health after that outburst before turning his attention back to the boy. In a few moments he had come to the conclusion that it would be no use attempting to catch the young Super Saiyan the way he was. Piccolo simply didn't have the power to match Gohan's speed in that state, let alone catch up with him. On top of that his flight patterns had been erratic, changing direction at random intervals and making any attempt to head him off mid-flight a waste of effort.

Hours later Gohan had finally landed and Piccolo had begun to make his way towards the boy. It wasn't long before the second spike in the boy's power had occurred forcing Piccolo to push himself to his maximum speed and getting to the scene just in time to stop everything from going completely to HFIL.

Piccolo sighed, pulling himself out of his thoughts as he closed in on The Lookout. He touched down on the floating structure and quickly spotted Gohan, who was currently holding a conversation with Dende. Within moments of his arrival the boy had turned to face him. Piccolo nearly ground his teeth in frustration at the sight of the damnable calm expression crossing the boy's face. Sighing once again he made his way towards the two.

When he had come closer Gohan took a step towards him and opened his mouth. "Mr. Piccolo, I'm so sorry about what I-"

"Dende I need you to move over to the building," Piccolo said, cutting off Gohan's apology. "I'd rather you weren't in the way."

The young Guardian looked surprised for a moment, looking between Piccolo and the equally surprised looking Gohan, before nodding in acquiescence and obliging the older Namekian's request. As soon as the young Namekian was out of the way Piccolo turned back to Gohan and sank into a fighting stance.

"Mr. Piccolo what are you-?"

"We're sparring. Now ready yourself," Piccolo interrupted.

Gohan's calm façade was once again broken by surprise. He stared blankly for a few moments before nodding his head and sinking down into his own stance, a blend of the Kame style and Piccolo's own. In an instant the two were upon each other, trading flurries of kicks and punches.

Piccolo's eyes narrowed at the pitiful display Gohan was giving. There was none of the usual precision or calculated assaults that were key to the boy's normal fighting style. In fact, it was as though Gohan was simply going through the motions, a long but repetitive pattern now becoming visible to the Namekian's eyes. Piccolo understood that his former pupil wasn't in the best state of mind but this was an insulting display! _'Fine. Two can play at that game.'_

Piccolo slipped into a pattern of his own, having seen through the boy's own pattern and now casually batting aside all of Gohan's attacks and sending his own attacks directly into the least protected parts of the boy's stance with perfect accuracy. In less than a minute a look of shock came across the younger fighter's face, only to be replaced by frustration a moment later and leaving himself wide open. Piccolo took that opportunity to deliver a particularly punishing kick to the boy's midsection, launching him halfway across the lookout.

Gohan landed on his back with a heavy thud. Piccolo waited for the boy to get up, but after several seconds had passed and he still hadn't gotten up the Namekian scowled and made his way over to him. Sure enough, Gohan was fully conscious, but looked frustrated and refused to meet his former mentor's eyes.

"Get up."

Silence.

"I said _get up,_" Piccolo ordered.

Gohan looked the Namekian in the eyes for a moment before looking away again.

"What's the point?" he muttered.

"What?"

"I said, what's the point?" Gohan said, louder this time though he knew Piccolo's question had nothing to do with whether he had heard him or not. "I get that I _screwed up_ and I've apologized, or at least tried to. I don't get how that correlates with you embarrassing and insulting me in a sparring match."

"Insulting you? You think what I did was _insulting_? Says the boy who was using attack patterns so simplistic that that fat, lazy samurai Yajirobe could see through?" Piccolo returned, seething. "If _anyone _has the right to feel insulted by this situation it's _me_. You spend a measly six months sitting on your ass and you suddenly can't even throw a damn punch? Your father would be disappointed in you if he could see you right now."

Gohan's eyes widened for a moment before quickly narrowing in anger as he pushed himself off the ground. "What is with _everyone _bringing up my father today! Why does everyone seem to think I should care what he thinks! He didn't seem to care what _I _thought when he decided to stay dead! It's my fault he's dead! Couldn't he understand how it made me feel to know that my father refused to be brought back to life after dying after my mistake?!"

"Gohan…" Piccolo said feebly. He was glad that the boy was finally letting loose all of his bottled up feelings, but it still hurt to watch the tears run down his face.

"Were his friends not a good enough reason for him to stay alive? Is his family not worth coming back to?" Gohan continued, almost sobbing by this point. "Why? Why couldn't he just be my father before being the hero just his once?"

With that Gohan completely broke down, falling to his knees while sobbing uncontrollably. Piccolo stood there for a moment before slowly and awkwardly getting down on one knee and tentatively putting one hand around the back of the young boy's head and pulling it into his chest.

After several minutes the demi saiyan's body finally stopped shaking. Piccolo pulled away, only to realize that Gohan had fallen asleep. Smirking softly, he picked the boy up in his arms.

"I'll take him back to his mother now," he called over to Dende. "He left his home in a rather abrupt fashion today and I'd rather reduce the amount of screaming I know is bound to happen to a minimum."

"Do you think he'll be all right now?" the young Guardian asked, coming closer.

"I'd like to think so," Piccolo responded. "His main problem was that he was bottling everything up inside and now that he's had a chance to vent his frustrations I'd like to hope that he'll be at least a bit like his old self again. I'd really rather avoid losing my arms again to stop another potentially world ending temper tantrum again."

With that the older Namekian dropped off The Lookout and flew in the direction of the Son household.

Dende smiled. If the older Namekian could crack a joke at a time like this, things were going to be just fine.

* * *

Chi-Chi paced back and forth, her nerves long past their breaking point. It had been hours since Gohan had bolted out of the house after his outburst and while she worried about him being on his own she was at least subconsciously aware that there was essentially nothing besides her son's social naivety that could realistically pose a threat to him on the planet. As such, a majority of her energy was spent becoming increasingly pissed off at the situation.

"When that boy gets home, ohhhh, he's going to get it!" she growled. She continued to pace angrily, one hand absently caressing her pregnant stomach. Just as she was about to burst out into another angry tirade she was interrupted.

_RIINNNNNGGGGGGG!_

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" she shouted before realizing that it was only the phone.

_RIINNNNNGGGGGGG!_

"What in the world anyone be calling here at this hour for?" Chi-Chi wondered aloud, making her way over to the incessantly ringing landline. The sun could be seen setting through a nearby window.

"Hello, this is the Son residence. If you're attempting to sell me anything, hang up now if you know what's good for you," Chi-Chi stated bluntly, hoping it was a telemarketer. She desperately needed to vent some of her built up anger.

"Don't get too excited Chi-Chi, it's just me, Bulma," the woman said.

"Oh, Bulma. What are you calling about at this hour?"

"Well I was wondering if you knew where Gohan was. He sent me an email earlier saying that he might be able to come over today so I could give him some hands on experience with the development of capsule technology but he never did. After several hours of no contact or communication on the manner I got a bit worried and decided to call and see if something had happened," Bulma explained.

"What do you mean he said he might be going over to Capsule Corp? He asked about having free time each day, but he never mentioned-" '_I was hoping I could do things like visit everyone at Kame house or Mr. Piccolo up on The Lookout or even go to Caps-' _Gohan's words flashed through Chi-Chi's head. "Oh…"

"Let me guess. He opened up his argument with something foolish like Kame House or The Lookout and you started yelling at him before he could finish. Honestly Chi-Chi if wasn't a necessary character trait for dealing with those battle crazed full blooded Saiyans and I wouldn't be calling the kettle black I'd have half a mind to reprimand you for having such a hair trigger temper," Bulma sighed. "That still doesn't answer my question though. Do you know where Gohan is?"

There was a moment of silence before Chi-Chi spoke. "I don't know…I was in the middle of shouting at him when suddenly he started shouting back. He ran out of the house shortly after that and hasn't been back since."

"What in the world did you say that got him mad enough to shout at you of all people?"

"I'm not completely sure really. One second I was telling him that his father wouldn't approve of the way he was acting and the next moment he was shouting something about how he was a prisoner in his own home and that he was stronger than his father was. That didn't make any sense to me though. How could my baby boy be stronger than his father?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Chi-Chi…do you actually know what happened after the cameras went out during the Cell Games?" Bulma asked warily.

"I didn't see what happened but it sounded simple enough. Gohan couldn't beat Cell so Goku sacrificed himself to save his son. He presumably weakened Cell enough so that Gohan could beat him after that," Chi-Chi explained.

There was silence from the other side of the line. "Bulma?" More silence. Chi-Chi was about to hang up and redial Bulma's number, assuming that the call had been dropped, when Bulma finally spoke up again.

"Chi-Chi…you need to talk to Gohan, or at least someone who was there about what happened on that day. I don't know how you came to the conclusion you did but that is most certainly _not _how things happened."

"What do you mean by that?" Chi-Chi asked, getting frustrated.

"I've only managed to pry some of the details of what happened out of Vegeta, and I've got a bird's eye recording of the whole thing from a Capsule Corp satellite I had pass by the area, so I've _seen _what happened but I don't really know the details surrounding the events. Needless to say, I know enough to know that you _need _to understand what really happened on that day if you want to have any hope of reconciling with Gohan," Bulma explained. A wailing noise could suddenly be heard in the background. "Crap, that's Trunks crying for his dinner. I've got to go Chi-Chi."

There was a click as the phone was hung up, leaving Chi-Chi speechless. She tentatively placed the phone back on its hook and took a step back.

"What on earth have I missed?" she muttered to herself. She wasn't given much time to think on the matter though, as a loud knock on the door quickly jarred her from her thoughts.

"First the phone and now someone at the door," she muttered to herself as she pulled the doorway open.

What she saw left her speechless.

Normally she would have started screaming. She would have immediately gone into a rage at who she saw standing in her doorway. Today wasn't a normal day though, and after her conversation with Bulma only a minute beforehand Chi-Chi was long past anger. So when she opened the door to her baby boy passed out in the arms of the green behemoth known as Piccolo, all she could manage was stunned silence.

They stood there for several seconds before Piccolo proffered the slumbering Gohan to her. She reached out to take her boy from the Namekian before freezing and bringing her hands down to her pregnant stomach. Piccolo's eyes widened for a moment.

"I'm sorry. That was thoughtless of me," Piccolo said. "Perhaps it would be best if you simply pointed me to his room."

Chi-Chi moved out of the way of the door and gestured towards the hallway past the kitchen. "His room is the one on the left."

Piccolo gave an affirmative grunt bending down and turning sideways so that he could get into the building. He disappeared into the hallway, leaving Chi-Chi fighting the urge to tremble in fear. She knew that the man had reformed his ways, but she'd always think back to that terrifying and brutal final round of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, where she had watched Goku nearly beaten to death.

A few moments later, Piccolo reentered the kitchen and proceeded towards the door.

"C-Could I get you something to eat?" Chi-Chi asked, Bulma's words still fresh in her mind.

Piccolo froze, turning slightly to address her. "As a Namekian, I only require water to sustain myself."

"O-Oh…" Chi-Chi turned and pulled a cup from the cupboard, filling it with water from the tap before turning back to proffer it to Piccolo. Her hand trembled involuntarily and as she neared him the glass slipped from her grasp. It fell halfway to the ground before coming to a sudden stop in midair. The glass hovered there for a moment before floating up into Piccolo's outstretched hand.

"You needn't push yourself to fulfill human courtesies," Piccolo stated.

"I-It's not that. Y-You sacrificed your life to save my son when Vegeta and that muscle b-bound buffoon that was his lackey first attacked. I've n-never thanked you for that," the woman explained, trying to psych herself up to ask the question she needed to.

Piccolo's expression softened momentarily and after a few seconds he brought the glass up to his lips. Several long seconds passed as he drained the glass and then gently placed it on the table. The drink finished, he turned to leave again.

"W-Wait! I n-need to ask you something," Chi-Chi stammered out. "I need to know what happened after the camera was knocked out of commission during the Cell Games." Piccolo looked startled by the statement. "I've recently b-become aware that I have a mistaken understanding o-of the events that transpired after that m-moment and it l-led to me saying something that unintentionally h-hurt Gohan."

Piccolo observed her for a moment, taking note of how she seemed to be desperately trying to prevent herself from trembling in his presence. "I should leave," he stated, holding up his hand to prevent her obvious response. "Don't misunderstand me. I simply mean that neither of us is comfortable while I remain in this house. I can stand just outside the doorway and tell you what you need to know from there."

"O-oh, of course," Chi-Chi said. Both of them headed towards the door with Piccolo ducking under the doorway again and stopping a few steps outside while Chi-Chi stopped just inside the doorway. Piccolo stared at her a moment before looking past her. A moment later, she felt something nudging against her legs and upon turning to see what it was she saw a chair.

"This will probably take a while. You might as well make yourself comfortable," Piccolo stated. The sounds of night life were beginning to pick up in the mountain area as the sun finished setting on the horizon. Piccolo waited for Chi-Chi to sit before speaking again.

"Where should I start?"

* * *

**AN: All right then, Chapter 4 complete! This honestly took me several days longer to get out than I originally thought it would between school, work and absurd amount of reading I do.**

**Anywho, I actually had a harder time writing this chapter than I thought I would considering that the first scene was something I'd envisioned happening from near this story's inception though in a slightly different fashion because chapters 2 and 3 were actually a bit of a spur of the moment decision that I'm immensely glad I made considering that as things stand now they're probably going to be the single most important chapters in this story so far as the overall plot is concerned. On the other hand chapter 4 and the coming chapter 5 will probably be the most important chapters of the story in regards to Gohan.**

**I've noticed something interesting, in that I've somehow managed to write from 5 characters' perspectives in fewer chapters, especially since originally everything was going to be from Gohan's perspective. I suppose I just liked the idea of examining how other characters react to Gohan rather than just keeping the focus on him. Expect a new perspective come chapter 6 :D**

**Next time we're going to see how Chi-Chi reacts to learning how the Cell Games went down after the camera was taken out through Piccolo's experience of the events. Thanks everyone for reading and be sure to let me know what you think!**


	5. To Forgive

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of its affiliated characters.

* * *

"Where should I start?"

The question caught Chi-Chi off guard. She opened her mouth for a moment before closing it again, unsure of how to respond. It was then that what Bulma had said about Gohan's strength came to mind.

"Why did Goku send Gohan out to fight?"

Piccolo stared down at her for a second. "Because…Goku knew he couldn't win against Cell, so he sent out the one fighter he knew had the strength to do the job after making sure he'd fought Cell hard enough to show that fighter that monster's fighting style."

"That doesn't make any sense. How…how was a ten year old boy stronger than his father?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Gohan…Gohan is special. He has a wellspring of hidden power that defies comprehension. The first time I noticed this was when Raditz attacked. Between Gohan, Goku and I, Gohan was the only one able to deal a damaging blow on the man before I struck him with the attack that killed both Raditz and Goku. After I'd abducted him to train him for the upcoming fight with the Saiyans I quickly realized that I would never get him to show me any of his latent power without being…persuasive," Piccolo explained.

"Persuasive how…" Chi-Chi asked, her tone edging towards dangerous.

"I threw him at a small mountain."

"YOU WHAT?!" Chi-Chi screeched, attempting to get up from her seat and strangle the Namekain.

"The mountain was incinerated," Piccolo bluntly stated, causing Chi-Chi to plop back down in her seat in shock. She knew that her husband and child were inhumanly strong. Goku _lightly _patting her on the back and sending her through the wall of their home after he'd returned from the Namek incident as well as the sheer amount of dishes the two had accidentally shattered with their grip during the days before the Cell Games had taught her as much. It just didn't often cross the woman's mind to think of what kind of damage they could do if they actually tried.

Sure, she had watched what was televised of the Cell Games and Cell had turned the arena into a crater with little to no apparent effort, hell he had obliterated a mountain as a show of power when he had told the world the date of the Cell games. That had been done by a _monster _though, not her little boy.

"H-How strong are you all?" Chi-Chi asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

"…How much do you know about Frieza?" Piccolo asked after a moment's thought.

Chi-Chi blinked, thrown off by the seemingly unrelated question. "He…he was some sort of evil alien freak that Goku defeated and Vegeta used to work under."

"Hmm, not much but it will have to do," Piccolo muttered. "Frieza was part of an alien race that repressed their immense power through a series of progressively weaker forms. Vegeta is relatively tight lipped about his time under Frieza but from he has said Frieza spent the majority of his time in the weakest of those forms and was known for being able to effortlessly turn entire planets into space dust in that state."

Chi-Chi began to tremble in fearful anticipation.

"Goku fought and defeated Frieza in his final form; a form that was a few hundred times stronger than his weakest. The Cell seen by the world at the Cell Games was at least four to five times stronger than that," Piccolo explained.

Chi-Chi's mouth went dry. One moment she was learning that her son was obliterating mountains at the age of four and the next she was learning that he had faced and defeated an opponent that made feats of strength on that level seem inconsequential.

"During the Cell Games Goku had enough power to tire Cell out, but at the same time Cell never showed off his full power at any time during that fight, preferring to enjoy the fight rather than simply destroy what he assumed would be the best fight he'd get on the planet," Piccolo explained. "When Goku gave up after driving himself to exhaustion during his fight with Cell, we'd all thought he'd lost it. When he sent Gohan out to fight Cell, we couldn't even comprehend it. It made me furious to think that Goku was sending his son on a suicide mission against that monster."

Piccolo's fists clenched and his body began to tremble in rage at the memory, something that wasn't lost on Chi-Chi. _'He cares a good deal about my son, doesn't he?'_

"It was then that Gohan showed us his power. It was unbelievable to think that a child could hold that much power within him. He was at least as strong, if not stronger than his father."

"If Gohan had that much power how come he did so poorly against Cell? It looked like Goku managed to fight Cell to a standstill but Gohan looked like he was barely holding his own!" Chi-Chi interrupted.

"Gohan has never been the fighter his father was, yet for years he's been forced onto the battlefield because of the unimaginable latent power he was born with. A power he's terrified to release for fear of the consequences. Even against a monster like Cell he hoped to resolve the situation without fighting, so he attempted to get that mutant freak to back down by warning him of what might happen if he was pushed too far," Piccolo explained.

"Gohan was naïve. Being a genetic combination of the greatest fighters to ever grace this planet, Cell was strongly influenced by the most prominent character traits of those whose cells he was made from. Friza's cruelty. Vegeta's arrogance. The Saiyan drive to prove oneself against the strongest of foes. Cell embodied all of these traits and as such made it his goal to push Gohan over the edge. When Cell realized that Gohan would likely die before unleashing his power while he tortured the boy, he turned to other methods."

Piccolo took a moment to compose himself before continuing, his fists clenched tightly in rage at his recounting of the events.

"Cell decided that if he couldn't force Gohan to snap through more direct means, he would do it indirectly. He stole the senzu beans before Goku could use one to recover his strength and then spawned those…_things_. Cell called them Cell Juniors and each and every one of them contained a good portion of his strength. At full strength Goku would have stood a chance against them, but with him exhausted we didn't stand a chance. They toyed with us at their leisure and after we had all been thoroughly beaten into the ground Cell must have decided to _put us out of our misery_," Piccolo intoned sarcastically.

Chi-Chi swallowed nervously.

"That was when it happened. For some reason Hercule threw Sixteen's head between Gohan and Cell, though I've yet to comprehend what could have driven that buffoon to do such a thing."

"He masterfully manipulated Hercule through the man's pride and ego. The pompous blowhard couldn't afford to back down after the way Sixteen cornered him ," Chi-Chi said, trying and failing to keep from giggling at the thought.

Piccolo smirked before turning serious once more. "Sixteen told Gohan exactly what he needed to hear. He told him that there are certain black hearted individuals who can never be reasoned with and that it was ok to release his restraints and fight with everything he had to protect those he loved from such monsters. Cell decided at that point that he'd had enough of letting Sixteen speak and crushed the androids head with underfoot. It was the final straw. Gohan let go of the mental restraints that had been holding him back and released the power he'd been hiding away. The massive amount of energy he released in that moment is presumably what took the camera out of commission."

"He caused that much damage without even attacking?" Chi-Chi asked and received a curt nod in response.

"I don't think any of us quite understood how strong he'd actually become even after he systematically eliminated all of the Cell Jr's with a look of casual contempt on his face. When he began fighting Cell again it looked as though they were on even footing, and when Cell grew frustrated and brought himself to his full power we were terrified that it was over for Gohan. And then he let Cell get in a free blow to the face and we got our first taste of how strong the boy had really become."

"What do you mean? What happened?" Chi-Chi asked, growing frantic.

"He acted as though he hadn't even felt it. Following that is when Gohan made his first serious attacks," Piccolo held up two clawed fingers. "Two attacks. That's all it took for your son to leave Cell staggering in so much pain that it was a struggle to stay on his feet. It was at that point that Cell started to become desperate. He flew into the air and began charging a Kamehameha Wave with enough power to obliterate the planet, but it didn't hold a candle to the one Gohan returned fire with. The aftermath of the attack left Cell a broken, quivering mess floating up in the sky. Goku told Gohan to finish it then, to end the horror known as Cell….Gohan refused."

"What possible reason could he have for doing that?" Chi-Chi asked. Piccolo was silent for a moment. "Well?! Tell me!" Chi-Chi demanded.

"…He said that he wanted Cell to suffer more for his sins," Piccolo said in a pained voice.

"What…? No…no, no, no. You're lying, my baby isn't like that…" Piccolo remained silent. "You're lying to me! My son isn't like that! He's a kind and gentle boy, not some monster who likes to make people suffer!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, tears running down her face.

"How much do you know about the Super Saiyan transformation?" Piccolo asked.

"Questions, questions, questions!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. "I thought you were supposed to be telling me what happened at the Cell Games not giving me some sort of stupid quiz! Their hair turns golden, there eyes turn teal and they get too strong for their own good! There! You happy or do you have some other inane question to ask me? Or maybe you want to give me more details on how much of a monster my son is!"

"I'm asking you these questions because it's imperative that you understand certain things to truly understand what happened on that fateful day, now pull yourself together," Piccolo growled. "The Super Saiyan transformation is much, much more than a simple change in appearance and power up. From what I've learned the initial transformation is caused by being in a state of extreme emotional duress and the immense influx of power that comes with that first transformation only further serves to exacerbate those feelings. When Goku first attained the legendary transformation of his race, he apparently became so consumed by his rage that he barely had the presence of mind to order Gohan to grab my half dead body and get back to the ship so that we didn't get caught up in his fight with Frieza."

"But Goku and Gohan were their normal and cheerful selves during the days before the Cell Games," Chi-Chi said.

"Yes, but that was due to the specialized training they did within the Hyperbolic Time Chamber in order to make the Super Saiyan state as natural as breathing. I'm telling you this because when Gohan released his restraints during the fight with Cell I believe it was akin to going through the initial transformation all over again. Not only did his appearance change again, it was as though he'd taken his Super Saiyan form's power and added it on top of itself. If I'm right, and this was an entirely new transformation then I have to assume that Gohan went through the same change in mental state that Goku did when he transformed on Namek, only he didn't have the fully developed mental capacities of an adult that helped keep his father in control. Gohan had to deal with this new influx of power and increased mental turmoil with the mind of a ten year old child, an unreasonably mature child to be sure, but a child nonetheless. So it twisted him," Piccolo explained.

"I…I see," Chi-Chi said, unsure of how to respond to the new information.

"Gohan toyed with Cell while the monster became more and more desperate. With another powerful blow to Cell's abdomen, the abomination was forced to regurgitate Android Eighteen and with her gone Cell reverted to his previous, far weaker form. It was then that Cell truly lost it. He bloated up like a balloon, filling his body up with enough energy to destroy the planet and everyone on it in a single suicidal attack. We thought it was over then, until Goku suddenly told everyone goodbye and appeared next to Cell. Using Instant Transmission, he took Cell with him off of the planet and sacrificed his life to save everyone."

"That Goku of mine. Always ready to put his life on the line to protect those he loves…but that doesn't make sense. If Goku took Cell away during his attempt to take the planet and everyone on it out with him why is everyone telling me that Gohan was the one to defeat Cell?" Chi-Chi asked.

"You noticed that Cell had the startling ability to regenerate practically any lost body part correct?"

Chi-Chi nodded. It was hard to miss when someone regained the entire upper half of their body after getting it blasted off.

"Well when that kind of ability is combined with Frieza's race's ability to survive even the most extreme injuries and environments you get a monstrosity that can come back from being disintegrated to a single living cell. When you combine that with the Saiyan genetic trait that causes them to bounce back from any near death experience they survive even stronger than they were before, and you get the nightmare we were shortly faced with."

Chi-Chi's eyes widened in shock.

"Cell returned even stronger than he had been before, and in an instant he had effortlessly killed Trunks. Vegeta lost it at his son's death and blindly attacked Cell, nearly getting killed in retaliation if it hadn't been for Gohan's timely intervention, though his arm was broken in the process. Cell decided that then was the perfect time to destroy all opposition and the planet along with it. Once again he fired off a potentially world ending Kamehameha Wave and once again Gohan returned with his own, only this time they were evenly matched. Everyone besides Vegeta tried their best to distract Cell with our own attacks, but he brushed them off as though they were nothing and sent us flying away as though we were nothing more than an annoyance. Finally, Vegeta used everything he had in an attack and with it managed to throw Cell's concentration off for a moment. In that instant Gohan overpowered Cell and eradicated him completely."

There was a momentary silence as Chi-Chi attempted to fully digest the information she had been given. Finally, she found her voice again. "He…he blames himself doesn't he? For his father's death? I haven't seen nearly as much of my little boy as he's grown up these last few years as I'd have hoped, but I still know how he ticks. He's his father's son and can't help but feel responsible when people get hurt that he thinks he should have saved."

"He's afraid that Goku refused to come back to life because he wasn't good enough for him," Piccolo said.

"Ohhhh," Chi-Chi growled. "That boy of mine is far too self-punishing for his own good." She looked Piccolo in the eyes. "Thank you. I…I'm not sure I would have been able to ask him what happened, but to be able to understand what he went through, in some small way…," she trailed off. After a moment she began to speak again. "I want to…apologize for how I've treated you in the past. I've pointed a good deal of unwarranted hatred and spite your way-"

"I almost killed your husband, plotted to kill him for close to five years after that, succeeded in killing your husband and then kidnapped your only child and practically beat him half to death on a daily basis for close to a year in the name of training him to fight off a pair of xenocidal aliens. Any spite you've shown me over the years is _entirely _warranted from my understanding of things," Piccolo interrupted.

"And yet you sacrificed your life to protect my son when the Saiyans attacked and have obviously come to care a great deal about him. I'm stubborn not oblivious. During those three years you were training to fight the Androids I could see how much he adored and respected you whenever he talked about you. I wouldn't be surprised if he saw you as a second father of sorts. Goodness knows Goku has been gone as often as not during the last six years, not that I can really blame him with the insanity those years have been," Chi-Chi said, chuckling. "It's long past time that I stop pushing my hatred on a man who has long since stopped being the monster he was when he earned it."

Piccolo stood in shocked silence, attempting to wrap his mind around what the woman before him had just said. It was as though a weight he had never known was there had been lifted off of his shoulders. He knew that the others among the Z-Fighters had forgiven him or at least treated him with tacit respect due to the events they had gone through together, and Bulma, along with the rest of her family, were unique in their acceptance of him amongst "normal" humans, but to hear the one person who had the most reason to hate him offer her forgiveness left him with an indescribable feeling.

Piccolo bowed his head to the woman in front of him. "Thank you," he said before turning his head to look off into the distance. "I should go now."

Chi-Chi nodded and began push herself up from the chair. She and Piccolo shared one more look before the Namekian gently rose into the air and then shot off into the night, quickly disappearing into the darkness. Chi-Chi stood there for a moment before shutting the door behind her and dragging the chair back to the table, all notions of having dinner long being banished from her mind as she headed towards her bedroom. She needed a good night's rest to help her process the events of the day as well as prepare herself for the talk she knew she needed to have with her son the next morning.

* * *

Gohan woke to the sound of wildlife and the sun's rays pouring through the window.

'_My room?' _he thought, confused. The last thing he remembered was… _'Ah, Piccolo must have brought me here after I passed out.'_

For a moment he held onto the absurd hope that it had all been some sort of crazy dream, but one look at the scuffed up outfit he was still wearing and those hopes flew out the window. He slowly pulled himself out of bed, wondering if he should go through the effort of changing into a new set of clothes. His grumbling stomach reminded him of the fact that he had missed lunch _and_ dinner the night before, and all thoughts of changing clothes were benched for the time being. Food came first.

He made it to the kitchen entryway before realizing that food meant his mother, and his mother meant coming to terms with yesterday's encounter. Before he could think of what his next move his mother had spotted him. He didn't even have the time to consider running before she had crossed the short distance between them and wrapped her arms around him in an all-encompassing hug.

"What…?" he barely managed to get out. Chi-Chi held him close a few moments longer before pulling away and looking him in the eyes.

"Piccolo told me what happened at the Cell Games after he brought you home last night," she said.

Panic

'_She knows. No, no, no. She knows. She'll blame me. Have to run away. Panicking. Oh Kami not like this.'_

"-ohan. Gohan, snap out of it!" his mother's voice pierced through his panicked state. "Gohan. It's not your fault."

He looked at her, the confusion evident in his face.

"Gohan, it's not your fault your father died," she said.

"But if I'd-"

"But nothing! Goku chose to take Cell away of his own volition and stayed dead through his own choice as well! He would have done the same thing regardless of how or why such a situation came about!"

"But if I hadn't lost control!"

"Your father was a full grown man the first time he transformed and he nearly lost control of himself and you think less of yourself for losing control of yourself when you reached an entirely new level? You might be far too mature for your age but you're still just a child!" Chi-Chi exclaimed.

"Wha- how do you know about-?"

"Piccolo gave me an impromptu lesson on effect of the Super Saiyan state on the mind."

Gohan stared blankly at his mother, not sure how to react to that statement.

"Gohan…" Chi-Chi began again. "You can't continue to blame yourself for what happened. You're only ten years old. You don't need to take the weight of the world on your shoulders like that. You're still just a child, you can afford to act like it."

"But I…I…," his vision blurred. "I miss him so much."

"I do too Gohan. I do too," Chi-Chi said, pulling his head into her shoulder. Like a dam being opened, Gohan began to shake uncontrollably, letting the tears spill freely from his eyes. After several long minutes the shaking stopped and he pulled out of his mother's embrace and for the first time in six long months, a genuine smile crossed his face.

The touching moment might have gone on for longer, if not for the unmistakable sound of a Saiyan stomach growling.

Chi-Chi began laughing and Gohan flushed in embarrassment. "Well let's get my boy fed then. What do you say to that?" she asked. Gohan nodded enthusiastically and the two of them sat down to enjoy the breakfast she had been busy making shortly before he had gotten up.

A quarter of an hour later, Gohan was finishing up his food when Chi-Chi spoke up again.

"I'll let you know that I fully expect you to complete your studying every day," she said. Gohan looked up from his food, not quite getting what his mother was saying yet. "But so long as you complete that I have no problem with you choosing how to spend your remaining time each day."

Gohan couldn't help but stare wide eyed when he realized what she was saying.

"But I still want you to spend the majority of that free time learning from Bulma at Capsule Corp!" she amended. Gohan beamed as he moved about at an accelerated pace, carefully placing his dishes in the sink before making to head for his room, eager to finish the day's work as quickly as possible.

"Wait Gohan!" his mother's voice called out, stopping him in his tracks. "Take the day off. After the day you had yesterday you deserve some time to unwind. I'm sure my little genius can afford to do so without his grades dropping right?"

Gohan nodded vigorously, changing his course from his room to the front door in an instant.

" But I expect you to pull double duty tomorrow young man!" Chi-Chi shouted as he made his way out the door.

"Of course mom!" he shouted back.

"And make sure to say hello to Piccolo for me when you meet up with him today!" she added.

"Will do!" he said, shooting into the air. It only occurred to him after he was halfway to Kami's Lookout that his mother had referred to Piccolo by name at least three times that morning.

'_What on earth happened last night while I was out?'_

LINE BREAK

Piccolo snapped out of his meditative state as he felt a familiar energy drawing close. Seconds later one Son Gohan landed on the lookout, a large grin on his face.

"Gohan! It's so good to see you so soon again!" Dende called out, approaching his friend with an equally large grin on his face. The young Guardian of Earth could easily recognize the boy's vastly improved mental state.

"It's good to see you too Dende. I'm sorry for my poor behavior yesterday. I wasn't in the best of places," the young demi-saiyan apologized.

"So long as you're feeling better, that's all that matters."

"So what's brought you here today? You run away from home two days in a row?" Piccolo joked sarcastically.

"Of course not," Gohan said, laughing softly. "My mom gave me the day off and I still owe you a spar after that embarrassing display yesterday."

"The whole day did she? For some reason I have a hard time believing that," Piccolo said.

"It's true. I'm not sure what you two talked about but it's almost like she has an entirely new world view…almost," Gohan said. "She told me to tell you she said hello as well. You'll have to tell me what you two talked about sometime because it certainly wasn't just the events of the Cell games you told her about if it got that much of a reaction out of her."

Piccolo smirked, sinking down into a fighting stance. "Maybe I'll tell you the day you beat me in a spar without going Super Saiyan."

"Well then I guess I'll just have to work myself to the bone if I ever want to learn that particular secret," Gohan said, sinking into his own stance.

"You're going to spar me in those?" Piccolo asked. "You sure your mother won't throw a conniption fit if you come home with your clothes destroyed?"

"I'm sure you can just finger beam me up a new one when we're done, and if you won't I'm sure Popo wouldn't mind if I asked him."

The two fighters stopped their banter then and in an instant they were on top of each other, trading a flurry of blows.

* * *

Gohan felt his spirits soar as he continued to spar with his former mentor and good friend. He had gotten past a major hurdle in his life and he knew that he'd become a stronger person because of it. He knew that he would always blame himself for his father's death in some small part of himself, but he had come to realize that to dwell on his past mistakes like he had been would only hurt him in the end.

He also understood that while he would never relish the thrill of battle like his father and Vegeta did, and would never understand the thrill they found in a fight to the death. His father had handed off the proverbial torch though, and Gohan certainly wasn't going to hand it off to two antisocial aliens and a group of humans who, as much as he hated to admit it, simply didn't have the power to match up to the threats that seemed to have made themselves a common occurrence over the years.

No, he'd never enjoy fighting for the sake of fighting, but he most certainly loved to learn and what was sparring other than learning more about oneself and one's opponent in an effort to better themselves? With that thought in mind Gohan couldn't help but find himself grinning like an idiot as he continued to trade blows with Piccolo.

* * *

**A/N: Well there's the conclusion of chapter 5 and the first arc so to speak. I'm sorry about the long wait, but between getting sick and a good load of homework during that time period a delay was inevitable. On the plus side this chapter is easily the longest one yet (I'm not yet entirely certain if this is kind of length is going to become a regular occurrence or not). As I've mentioned on my profile I'm currently working on a short story for one of my college courses. It's presumably going to cut into my fanfiction writing time, but on the plus side I plan on posting it on my DeviantArt account as well as the FictionPress account that I plan on creating when the time comes, and I'll have links up on my profile for those who are interested.**

**For anyone looking to read an angsty Gohan story, I'm sorry to say that that's not the path I'm looking to take. I really enjoy Gohan's happy outlook on life. It's part of the appeal of his character in the original series in that much like Goku, is that when shit hasn't hit the fan he's an enjoyably happy and relaxed person. There are certainly some overdone…**_**quirks **_**to his personality that I'm not so fond of when the Buu Saga comes around, but we'll deal with that when the time comes.**

**I'm not saying that I dislike Gohan!angst fics either, and done well it can lead to a fantastic reading experience, with "A State of Indifference" by the talented boboleta being far and away one of my all-time favorite DBZ fics. (No really it's fantastic)**

**As most of you have probably guessed I'm planning on taking Chi-Chi a somewhat different path than her canonical counterpart and much like Hercule I feel like she gets a lot of polarizing representations in fanfics simply because it's overall much easier to avoid dealing with the "less interesting" characters on a meaningful level. I feel like Chi-Chi's overprotectiveness definitely stems from the fact that both her son and husband have been in life or death fights from practically the moment she got engaged to Goku, and as such is justified, even if it feels over the top to most people.**

**Chi-Chi has never come across to me as someone who took the time to learn about the details of the major fights that occur during the series or truly wrap her mind around exactly how much destructive power the people close to her possess due to the fact that she's simply never anywhere near the line of fire until the Majin Buu saga. Based on that assumption I thought it would be interesting to play with the idea of how she would react to learning about the details of one such event and being plainly told that planet busting is a effectively an inconsequential expenditure of energy for the people closest to her by the time the Namek Saga has come to a close. I don't plan on changing her fundamental character (MyBoyWillBeAScholar & GRANDBABIES supporter 4Life XD) but I definitely want to play with it.**

**I'd like to take the time to reveal some of my plans for this fic and its two planned accompanying sequels. As of this moment, I don't have any plans for a major villain/threat to appear in Compromise specifically. Rather, my plans are to have various smaller conflicts that occur, slowly building up several larger conflicts that will come to resolve themselves in parts two and three which, as of this moment, are slated to be titled "Pride and Arrogance" and "Prejudice" respectively. Bonus points to anyone who can preemptively guess the meaning behind the titles.**

**Next chapter you'll be getting introduced to the first of three major OC's I have planned for this series, each of which will have fundamental roles in helping to shape the direction the plot will be taking as well as being the driving force in several important character interactions. You won't have to worry about them stealing the show so to speak, so I hope you find them enjoyable additions to the cast as they make their appearances.**

**P.S. I've made/will be shortly making several small edits to previous chapters in order to iron out a few minor inconsistencies I've noticed. It's nothing that should require a rereading but Chi-Chi's conversation with Bulma in chapter 4 will be getting a slight touch up that will make it more consistent with what Chi-Chi said to Gohan this chapter.**

**Review Responses**

**Lightshadow101: **_Gohan's age is a rather interesting topic, though I'm glad you asked this question because it prompted me to do some more thorough research into the topic. Gohan is born sometime in May in the year of 757. The Cell games occur on the 26__th__ May of 767. Assuming that Gohan's birthday occurred before the 26__th__ (the birthday episode in the anime was filler so it's not necessarily an official thing) he would legally be 10 by the time of the Cell games. I think that the confusion of how old he really is comes from the fact that he spent time in the Room of Spirit and Time which at that time was being used in one year increments. However, Gohan and Goku don't spend an entire year within the time chamber. I've heard both ten months inside and twenty one hours outside (~10.5 months inside) as values for how long he spent in the time chamber, but both of these durations would place him at less than 11 physically. Finally, it can be assumed that the extra almost full year Gohan added on in the time chamber isn't counted towards his age in the manga after the 7 year time skip occurs because Gohan is stated to be 16 when he enters high school. This can be hand waved as being very nearly 7 years since the Cell Games with Gohan entering school sometime in early April in which case it would make sense for him to be referred to as 16 and potentially turning 17 (physically almost 18) at some point during the Buu Saga. Whether or not he turns 17 during the course of the Buu Saga mostly depends on whether or not you choose to believe the manga's or anime's continuity. The anime has Gohan in high school for at least a week or two before Videl figures out his identity whereas the manga has her figuring it out on the second day which then directly leads into Gohan teaching her to fly with lessons starting the next day and the 25__th__ World Martial Arts Tournament which occurs ~1 month from that point. So depending on when exactly in May his birthday is he is either at most a few days from turning legally 17 to at most a week or two before Buu was finally destroyed on the Planet of the Kais._

_However, I do realize that I've set the story to start 6 months after the Cell Games so I'm going to have to go back and correct things so that Gohan is physically 11 by the time the story starts as well as correct the fact that there's no possible way he could still be 9 at the start of this story._

_As another interesting tidbit, the Japanese School year starts in April rather than September like many other countries and as such, Gohan is possibly entering into Orange Star High on the first day of the school year. Assuming that I can trust manga/anime in general as a source, transfer students are always introduced to the class like Gohan was, though I don't know if that's done on the first day of school or not. I have a pretty good feeling it wouldn't happen in a first year class but that's beside the point because he's presumably a second/third year student which is equivalent to a third/fourth year high school student in 4 year systems._

**Hoolllyyy Crap that was a lot lengthier an A/N than I originally intended. Ah well, enjoy the next chapter when it comes and I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter as well :D**


	6. Down the Rabbit Hole

-I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of its affiliated characters.

* * *

A teenage boy walked through the Capsule Corp compound, making his way towards a small meeting he had been directed to attend. On his uniform was an ID tag that labeled him as an intern and a part of the Gifted Youth program Bulma Briefs had started a few months after the Cell Games had concluded.

He passed a gathering of several of the other interns huddled together around something. Pausing for a moment, the boy was able to catches glimpses of a television screen, showing the visage of one Hercule Satan.

"Mr. Satan! As the Worlds Martial Arts Champion as well as the hero who defeated the terror known as Cell, what say you to the demands for a new World Tournament by those who want to test their mettle against The Champ!" a reporter asked.

"I say bring 'em on! I won't back down from any challenge, but I suggest you all wait three and a half years for your chance the next Worlds Martial Arts Tournament! I'm a very busy man and I'd hate to have to waste my precious time on an unending stream of third rate martial artists who only want their thirty seconds of fame!" the large man exclaimed.

"So you plan to bring back the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament?"

"Of course! It used to be a tri-annual event in which the best and strongest from around the world attended! A truly amazing display of the best the fighting world had to offer! I'd like to return it to its former glory and beyond, but in respect for those affected by the terror and destruction caused by that freak of nature known as Cell I thought it would be best to wait a year longer this time around," Hercule explained.

"And what if the tricksters from the Cell Games show up?" the reporter asked.

"I defeated Cell and I'll defeat everyone else who pits themselves against me! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The reporter turned back towards the camera. "You heard it hear folks! In three and a half years our glorious savior Mr. Satan will take any and all challengers at the twenty fifth Worlds Martial Arts Tournament! All you folks who want to have a chance against the World Savior better prepare yourselves!"

With that the press conference devolved into a flurry of photography flashes and Hercule Satan posing for the cameras.

"Yeah, you tell 'em Champ!"

"Mr. Satan is the best! No one has a chance against him!"

The interns surrounding the screen exclaimed their devotion to the World Savior. The boy snorted in contempt as he continued on his way to his destination. He would have thought that the world would take a more critical view of Hercule Satan's claims that he had defeated Cell and that all of the superhuman techniques were nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Instead, people had eaten up what the media told them was the truth and paid the obvious fallacies in Mr. Satan's arguments no mind. For Kami's sake people didn't trip _a few hundred meters_ into the air.

Sighing, the boy opened the door to his destination and entered into a small, well lit meeting room. Several others were already waiting in the room, though none were nearly as young as he was. Not surprisingly, several of them looked confused and one actually got up to confront him.

"You've got the wrong room boy," the man said. "The intern's lounge is on the opposite side of the compound."

The boy repressed a sigh, knowing that it was only natural that the adult scientists would assume that he was in the wrong place. He fished out the printed copy of the email he had gotten asking him to be in Meeting Room E5 at 12:30 p.m. on November 29th and handing it to the scientist. The man scrutinized the printed sheet for a minute before handing it back to him.

"Well I'll be damned," the man said, smiling. "Sorry 'bout that…Evan," he said, glancing at the teenage boy's nametag. Evan nodded in understanding before grabbing a chair. That was a benefit of working at Capsule Corp. When the head of research and development and intended heir of the company was Bulma Briefs, a woman who was as well known for her eccentricity as her genius amongst the scientists who worked there, a fifteen year old being invited to an exclusive meeting was barely a blip on the radar. The group sat in silence for a few minutes before a door opposite of the one Evan had entered through opened up and the highly esteemed woman herself walked in wearing a fashionable business suit.

"Well then, I'm sure you're all wondering what you've been asked here for. I know that most of you have recently come close to important breakthroughs on your research and would love to get back to it so let's ignore the formalities and get down to business," Bulma said, wasting no time at all in starting the meeting. "You see I'm here to give you a choice. You can either choose to join the Special Interests Research and Development division of Capsule Corp, where your research budgets and expected income will effectively double in size, or you can immediately cease your current line of research under threat of termination."

There was stunned silence at the statement. Several seconds passed before one of the scientists opened there mouth to speak before being cut off by Bulma.

"Hold that thought for a moment Erickson. I still need to tell you the other side this. Those of you who choose to go along with the departmental transfer will not be allowed to publish the results of your research to the scientific public-HOLD YOUR DAMN HORSES AND LET ME FINISH!" she shouted as several of the scientists began to loudly protest, silencing them. "Those of you who choose to cease your research will be monetarily compensated and given the highest recommendations should you choose to terminate your employment under Capsule Corp and seek employment elsewhere. However, be aware that most other companies do not hold the financial clout to fund your research and those that do will likely only consider it if you're willing to enter the field of weapons development."

All of the scientists grimaced at that. It was no secret that Capsule Corp was one of the few scientific corporations in the world where scientists could get funding for high cost research without being forced to gear the research towards weapons development.

"Why us?" the man Bulma had referred to as Erickson asked. The same man who had briefly confronted Evan when he entered the room.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why us? What is so special about our research that you feel compelled to give us the choice of two proverbial nooses? There's not even any kind of discernable rhyme or reason to who was picked either! I'm an astronomer, Ellis over here studies human biology, Kim and Tom are experts on advanced robotics and human applications and Drake is studying the feasibility of near light speed travel. Don't even get me started on Evan being here. I don't doubt the kid's a certified genius if he managed to get a position in this company through the Gifted Youth program, but he's a fucking intern for Kami's sake! No offense kid but how the hell is he related to this trash heap of a choice you're giving us?" the man shouted, red in the face from exertion.

"The reason you are all here being offered a choice between two equally insulting choices is because your research is headed towards breakthroughs that will reveal things the world simply isn't ready to know yet. Evan is here because of how remarkably good he is at being nosy," Bulma added, throwing a pointed look in the teenaged boy's direction. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and spontaneously gained a newfound interest in examining the table they were sitting at.

"That's the reason?" Erickson exclaimed. "You basically demand that we either sacrifice the chance at recognition or toss aside our integrity and the best excuse you can give us is a line straight out of a B rated move? Are you fucking kidding me?! What on earth gives you the right to choose what the people of earth are or aren't ready to know?!"

"BECAUSE THE PEOPLE OF EARTH PROVED THEY WEREN'T READY FOR THE TRUTH WHEN THEY SO READILY RAISED UP THAT LYING BUFFOON OF A MAN AS THEIR SAVIOR!" Bulma screamed, slamming her fists down on the table.

There was a palpable, uneasy silence as the implications of Bulma's outburst sunk in. Evan was oblivious to the oppressive feeling that blanketed the room. He could only feel excitement at the truths Bulma's outburst had alluded to. Truths that he'd been ridiculed by his peers for professing his belief in. Sure, Nimbus believed him, but one faceless person's belief was small comfort in comparison to that of _the _Bulma Briefs. The only thing that could possibly make him more ecstatic at this point was full blown-

"You have proof don't you?" he asked, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. He kept talking, ignoring the attention of everyone but Bulma. "You have proof that Hercule Satan wasn't the one to beat Cell, that the superhuman feats of strength and destruction aren't just tricks and you're going to show it to us too, aren't you?"

Bulma looked at him for a moment with an appraising eye. Without talking she pulled one of two capsules snugly fit into her breast pocket and gave it a click, tossing it onto the table. In a poof of smoke a small stack of papers appeared on the desk. Quickly, she passed the stacked packets of paper out amongst the people sitting at the table.

"What is this?" the woman named Ellis asked, paging through the document tentatively.

"That is an addendum to the contract you signed upon agreeing to work for Capsule Corp. Should you choose to sign it you become legally bound to speak of what has and will happen in this room today. It also includes the legal work for transferring you to the Special Interests Research Division as well as legally preventing you from disclosing the results of your research in any way shape or form unless it is with members of the SIRD or other specified personnel. You also agree to abstain from publishing the results of your research to the scientific community without Capsule Corp's express permission and should your employment with Capsule Corp be terminated for any reason you cede all rights to your research and its results to us," Bulma explained. "Anyone who refuses to sign will be asked to leave the room and given the rest of the day off with pay. Let me be the first to say that I wish I didn't have to go about doing this in such a crude fashion but the circumstances leave me little choice in the matter."

Evan leafed through the legal document, giving certain parts a cursory glance before finally arriving on the final page. He picked up a pen to sign the document when something stopped him.

"Am I legally able to sign this document? I mean, I'm only fifteen," he asked.

"As a part of the Gifted Youth program contract your parents signed, you are legally allowed to sign any and all contracts that act as an addendum to the original contract," Bulma said. Evan wasted no more time and quickly signed the document, passing it across the table to the blue haired genius. Several minutes passed as the others looked over the document in front of them. Finally, one of them reached the final page.

"Well I'll be damned," Erickson said. "If that's not the royal seal I don't know what is. No wonder you're spouting off lines from a B rated movie. We might as well be living one!" The scientist was silent for a moment as he stared at the page. "I suppose I couldn't call myself a scientist if I swallowed the blue pill now. Down the rabbit hole it is."

This statement seemed to convince the others present and within a few minutes a stack of signed documents was in front of Bulma. After capsulizing the documents she pulled out the second capsule and decapsulized a small remote. Pointing it at the far wall she pressed a button and a large screen slid down from the ceiling.

"This is your last chance to back out. If you want out I will decapsulize these documents and dispose of yours here and now," Bulma said. No one said anything. "Very well then."

Pressing another button the screen came to life, showing a frozen image of one Hercule Satan stepping into the ring with Cell. "This is video footage of the Cell Games as taken from a Capsule Corp satellite I had fly over the area. The satellite of course couldn't pick up any audio but I've managed to splice in the audio from the live broadcast into the parts the cameras were active for. Please save all questions until the end." Another press of the button and the video came to life. For the next hour and a half the video played, with certain scenes slowed down by a factor of one hundred to show certain parts of the fights in visible detail. When the video froze, shortly after the light of the Delivery Boy's Kamehameha Wave overwhelming and destroying Cell died away there was nothing but stunned silence.

"Questions?" Bulma asked. "Come on, I know you have them. You wouldn't be scientists if you didn't have them."

"How on earth did those fighters gain access to their superhuman abilities?" Erickson asked.

"I think Ellis should be able to field this question," Bulma said.

"What do you mean I should be able t- you don't mean? Oh Kami you do," the woman said.

"What? What is it that Ellis knows that would explain what we just saw?" Erickson asked.

"Well, um you see. My research has been focusing on the energy passively given off by the human body during different activities," Ellis said.

"You mean like body heat?" the man named Drake asked.

"Hmm, yes and no. You see, in my studies I've come across an odd phenomenon in that all humans or maybe even all living things give off a bioelectrical wavelength of sorts. It's generally far below the standard sensitivity of machines designed to detect that kind of energy reading so it was honestly sort of a fluke when one of the more sensitive machines I was using to run some tests on electrical activity in the brain overloaded and broke down at random one day," Ellis said.

Bulma smirked inwardly at the statement, remembering the day. She had been walking through the compound with Trunks when he decided to have a meltdown for some inconceivable reason as they were passing by Ellis's work station. The machine had shorted out within seconds.

"When I rebuilt the machine I ended up accidentally making it far more sensitive than it had before, but in return I began picking up on all kinds of energy signatures that I hadn't beforehand. When I realized that these energy signatures were other people passing by my lab I quickly repurposed the machine to study this phenomenon. During my research I've learned that the amount of energy given off by people appears to correlate with how physically fit they are and fluctuate based on the severity of the physical activity they are currently undergoing and their overall fatigue level. Based on what we've seen here I'd have to hazard a guess that by some means or another there are those who have learned to channel this energy at will."

"You hit the nail on the head," Bulma affirmed. "I'd like to add that it appears to take a fair degree of mental discipline on top of peak physical fitness to perform feats on a superhuman level. It's why you don't see most martial artists or athletes performing the same superhuman feats as the fighters at the Cell Games. It should also be known that learning how to control the body's energy at will seems to uncap a limiter of sorts and with proper training it is possible to drastically increase the amount of energy one has access to."

The assembled scientists took a moment to digest the new information, with Ellis looking particularly thoughtful. "When you say drastically increase the amount of energy one has access to what kind of power are we talking about?" she asked.

Bulma looked conflicted for a moment before a look of resignation crossed her face. "I wouldn't put it beyond the capabilities of even the weakest of the energy fighters present at the Cell Games to be able to blow up this planet with only a fraction of their power."

The silence was oppressive. Minutes passed before anyone had the will to speak again.

"Y'know, if someone had told me this morning that I would learn that there are several people living on this planet who have the ability to destroy it under their own power, I would have called them crazy," Erickson said, laughing weakly. Luckily, this seemed to be enough to break the tension and moments later another question was asked.

"Why did Cell change so drastically after he puked up that woman?" Kim asked.

"Hmm, I suppose to answer that I'll have to ask you how much you know about one Dr. Gero," Bulma said.

"He was a well renowned scientist known for his genius in advanced cybernetics and his breakthroughs in the development of artificial intelligence," Tom supplied. "There were rumors that he did work for the Red Ribbon Army and shortly after the army was mysteriously destroyed all further information on him dried up."

"The rumors were true. Dr. Gero worked very closely with the Red Ribbon Army and was devoutly loyal to them. After they were destroyed, he went underground for approximately seventeen years. In this time he built several androids as well as turning himself into a cyborg with the intent of having his vengeance. Most notable among these androids were Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen and the terror known as Cell. What made Cell different from the other androids was the fact that rather than being a mechanical construct he was a biological chimera of the strongest fighters to ever step foot on planet earth," Bulma said.

"You mean someone actually went out of their way to create that monstrosity?" Evan asked. "Who in their right mind would create such a malevolent creature with that much power?"

"Nobody said Dr. Gero was in the right mind. A person consumed by revenge is a terrifying thing to behold," Bulma said. "This can be further seen by Cell's particularly vile way of increasing his power. I'm sure you've all heard of how entire towns were reduced to little more than piles of clothing blowing around in the wind before everyone was brought back to life, yes?"

She waited for the affirmative nod given by those present before continuing. "In order to gather his strength so that he could make his move on his primary targets he covertly went from town to town, draining the life essence of the people who inhabited them through his tail as well as their bodies."

"Who were his primary targets?" Erickson asked.

"Cell was designed in such a way that upon absorbing Androids Seventeen and Eighteen their bodies would be incorporated into his own in such a way that his strength would be drastically increased. As a side effect of this process it appears that he became more humanoid in appearance through each progressive stage," Bulma explained.

"So when Cell puked up Android-"

"Eighteen," Bulma supplied.

"When Cell puked up Android Eighteen he lost a massive portion of his power and reverted to the previous stage?" Kim asked. Bulma nodded.

"If Cell was forced back into a previous stage why did he come back looking like he did in his final one after that one golden haired man disappeared with him?" Drake asked. "Come to think of it, how did that man take Cell away from the battlefield and why did Cell bloat up like a balloon shortly after reverting to his previous stage?"

"Let me answer those in reverse order," Bulma said. "Cell bloated up like a balloon because he was desperate and planning on using a suicide attack to blow himself up and the earth with him. The golden haired man used a technique called Instant Transmission take Cell away to a distant planet in order to save the earth."

"Instant Transmission?" Drake asked.

"It's an energy based technique that allows someone to transfer themselves near instantaneously to another location so long as they can use another living being's energy signature as a focus," Bulma explained.

"It's possible for a living being to sense the energy passively given off by other living beings?" Ellis asked.

"Yes. It's a technique learnable by anyone and apparently incredibly simple to pick up so long as you can manipulate your own body's energy," Bulma said. "Now as to the reason Cell came back after being taken away is due to the unique combination of genetic material he was created from. Cell's genetic structure primarily consists of the DNA of three different alien species."

"Aliens?" Tom asked, sounding incredulous.

"Well of course," Bulma said. "Did you actually think the giant green man with pointed ears and antennae was one of the various humanoids that inhabit the earth? In fact, only three of the energy using fighters at the Cell Games were fully human."

"Only three?" Kim asked.

"Yep, all of the ones who could turn their hair golden are at least half Saiyan, a humanoid race characterized by normally black, gravity defying hair, black eyes and monkey like tails, though all of the Saiyans currently alive, full blooded or not, have lost their tails for one reason or another. The standard hair and eye color seems to be passed on by the non-saiyan partner in the case of human-Saiyan offspring. Saiyans also have the genetic potential to unlock a very powerful transformation that multiplies their power by many times and manifests itself physically in their hair turning blond and their eyes changing to a teal color. The green man is from a race of aliens called Namekians. The final alien race that Cell owes his unique genetic structure to is a rather nasty alien race known as Arcosians." Bulma pressed a button on the remote and an aerial rendering of a zoomed in image of Frieza and King Cold shortly after they had arrived on the planet appeared on screen.

Now to move back to the topic of why Cell came back in his final form, each of these three species has very special genetic characteristics that when combined make for a terrifying combination. Arcosians are capable of surviving injuries that would kill a human instantly. As you can see, the smaller of the two has many cybernetic attachments to his body, all of which were presumably required after he survived a fight that nearly left him mortally wounded as well as the detonation of the planet he was on shortly thereafter," Bulma said, ignoring the wide eyed looks of disbelief several of those present were giving her. "Namekians, the race the green man from the Cell Games comes from, are able to regenerate missing parts of their body so long as they have the energy reserves to do so. The final part to this jackpot of a genetic mix is the Saiyan ability to have their strength drastically increase after recovering from near fatal injuries. In short, Cell regenerated from a single cell after self-destructing and came back even stronger than he had been when he had both Eighteen and Seventeen absorbed, though luckily for us he still wasn't powerful enough to win," Bulma said.

"Unreal…," Evan murmured.

"Now then, are there currently any more questions?" Bulma asked. There was silence and by this point nearly everyone present was far too overwhelmed to even think of bringing up another question at that point. "Well then I suppose that's all for today. I'm sure you all want some time to come to terms with this, so you're all given the rest of the day off. Of course if you'd rather spend the day working on your projects feel free to do so. Your files will be transferred to the private server and your personal equipment and machinery will be transferred to my personal compound which is where you will report to for work from now on. These are the I.D. cards you'll need for security clearance until we get you registered into the system tomorrow," she said, passing out nondescript keycards to those present.

"Well then, I'll see you all tomorrow to help get you settled into your new work spaces. Oh and Evan, you'll be working under Ellis as her work is the closest in line with your areas of expertise. I expect you to be on your best behavior under her guidance," Bulma said, giving the teenage boy a knowing look.

Evan laughed nervously while nodding his head vigorously in acknowledgement, before turning to leave the room behind the scientists. He quickly collected his jacket and headed towards the compound's exit. The other scientists might have had projects they could be working on, but there was no way in hell he was going to stick around the other interns for the rest of the day after what he had just learned.

As he exited the compound and walked out into the crisp November weather, he could barely contain the excitement he felt. He had been right! The fighting at the Cell Games had been real and while he wasn't allowed to shove it in the faces of those who had ridiculed him, he could certainly find solace in the fact that they remained willfully ignorant while he basked in his newfound enlightenment.

He could hardly wait for tomorrow to come.

* * *

**A/N: And that's chapter six! Apparently my muse got all uppity with me and my decision to work on my short story for college and demanded that I push out another chapter of Compromise much faster than I originally intended, though I'm sure none of you who are enjoying this story are complaining about that XD**

**I want to say that this chapter really took on a life of its own in ways I really wasn't expecting before I started writing it. Evan was the only character I planned on introducing when suddenly the SIRD and several new characters sort of spontaneously came into existence. Apparently my muse enjoys tossing wonderful little additions to the story my way on a regular basis. This addition unfortunately came at the cost of a lot of the early characterization I had planned for Evan in this chapter, but that should be getting rectified in the next chapter or two.**

**So in short, rather than introducing Evan as thoroughly as I'd originally planned, we now have the SIRD and five new OC's that have created minor roles for themselves to play throughout the story.**

**Now assuming that my muse doesn't decide to zerg me with more in the face inspiration it will probably be 2-3 weeks before my next update…**

**Probably...**

**I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Be sure to let me know what you think :D**


	7. Introductions

I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of its affiliated characters.

* * *

Evan stepped into the compound, in awe of the position he was in. This was the location of the labs in which the esteemed Dr. Briefs had first created capsule technology. This was where Bulma Briefs had done the work that had eventually taken her father's small but monumentally successful family company and set it on the path to becoming a powerful global conglomerate. He was so caught up in his awe that he didn't notice someone approaching him.

"Well hello m'boy. What business do you have here?" Evan turned to face an old man with a black cat riding on his shoulder. In an instant Evan recognized the man as none other than the esteemed Dr. Briefs.

"Oh-oh I-I'm here as a part of the SIRD department that Bulm—Ms.—Dr. Briefs started," he stuttered out, in awe of the scientific legend standing before him. "I-It's an honor to meet you sir. You're an inspiration to aspiring scientists everywhere."

The old scientist chuckled lightly. "Is that so? Hmm, you must be Evan. My daughter is probably helping one of the other scientists get situated, so why don't I show you around, possibly get you where you need to go."

"It would be an honor sir!" Evan said, feeling awestruck. "Dr. Briefs said that I would be working under Ellis sir."

"Ellis? Hmm…Ellis…Oh! I remember now, she had a wonderfully interesting contraption that measured a person's bioelectrical wavelength or some other fancy term like that. Believe she said I registered as a three hundred thirty odd something, whatever that means. Scratch here registered as a thirty seven himself," Dr. Briefs said, chuckling and scratching under the cat's chin while starting to walk through the compound, with Evan hurrying after him. "Are you of a similar field of study as her?"

"Ah, well I'm planning on working towards a biology major over the next few years, though it's been tough to find a college willing to offer courses to a student who is in all but mathematics and the sciences an average first year high school student," Evan said.

"Hohohoho, sounds like tough is an understatement…ah! Here we are then." They had arrived at a door next to a wide glass window through which they could see Ellis and Kim tinkering with some sort of machine Evan wasn't familiar with. "Well then I should get going. The animals don't feed themselves you know," Dr. Briefs said, walking off towards another section of the compound. Evan stared in awe after the old genius for a few moments before tentatively opening the door to the lab. The two scientists looked up from their work.

"Ah, there you are Evan. Listen could you stand over there for a second?" Ellis asked, gesturing vaguely towards the area that seemed to be where the front of the machine was facing. Confused, but seeing no reason to question the request of the scientist, he moved towards where she had gestured. "Great, that's perfect. Now just stand there for a moment while I get this…there!"

The machine flared to life and a holographic screen sprang up, a number displayed on it rapidly rising. When the number finally stopped climbing there was a bold faced 362 on the screen. "Hmm, that does seem to line up with my previous data points," Ellis said. "I think we can assume that it's been properly calibrated again, though we should probably perform some exertion tests just to make sure. Hey Kim could you roll that cart over to Evan?" Ellis asked. Kim grabbed the cart in question and pushed it over to the teenager. A quick inspection revealed a strange looking dumbbell that had a small display lengthwise along the middle of it which currently read ten kilos.

Evan looked up at Ellis. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked.

"Just lift it."

He stared at the scientist for a few moments in disbelief before shrugging and picking up the dumbbell. He could feel the weight but it wasn't anything major.

"You can put it down now," Ellis said. Evan complied and put the weight down. Kim pressed a few buttons next to the display and the dumbbell suddenly read twenty kilos. He barely had time to wonder what had just happened when Eliss' voice cut in again. "Pick it up again if you could."

Tentatively, Evan grabbed the dumbbell and lifted again, being met with unexpected resistance. After getting over his shock he put more effort into lifting the weight and was able to take it off of the cart with some effort. "You can put it down now."

As he put the weight down he turned to Ellis, noting briefly that the number on the odd machine's display had dropped to 359. "How in the world did that weight get heavier?" he asked.

"Fascinating isn't it?" Kim asked. "Dr. Briefs and her father apparently developed a machine that can increase the gravity in an enclosed area a few years back and have recently developed a way to create the machine on a smaller scale, though far less powerful apparently. There's a ten kilo weight in the bar with a pair of gravity generators in either end of the dumbbell. This one can locally increase the gravity of the weight by about ten times earth's but apparently the larger model can reach upwards of fifty times that."

Evan's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Five hundred times earth's gravity?! Why would they ever need a machine for that?"

"Based on her probable connections to the fighters at the Cell Games I can only assume it would be used for extreme resistance training," Ellis said. "Even training under twice earth's gravity would provide an incredible return if you think about it."

"But what about all of the negative consequences that would theoretically bring about? Doubling the gravity in an area should have disastrous results on a living body, from increasing the weight of the body's fluids and making the heart work several times harder to keep it circulating to air getting so heavy that it should tear apart or crush the delicate tissues of the lungs. Not only that. Without a long readjustment period the body would probably kill itself through overworking itself when gravity lowers. Who on earth would risk that?" Evan asked.

"Probably the Cell Games fighters," Ellis said. "The one with the flame like hair more specifically, since he lives on the premises."

"What?" Evan asked in disbelief.

"Me and Kim saw him earlier when Dr. Briefs herself was leading us to this lab and the two of them got into a shouting match over something or another. His name is Vegeta and he's apparently the Prince of all Saiyans. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the two of them are together in some form or another," Ellis stated.

Evan blanched. "Together?"

"It would be my first guess yes. The fact that the two of them seem to bicker like an old married couple and the fact that the baby boy who Dr. Briefs has with her from time to time's facial structure is remarkably similar to Vegeta's seems to point pretty strongly towards it. I'd give it seven to three odds that even if the baby was an accident born of a night of drunken passion or built up sexual tension that they'll be sleeping together within a few months if they already aren't," Ellis said.

"I'd say nine to one personally," Kim input. "Dr. Briefs had a glint in her eyes after that argument that makes me think she enjoyed getting a rise out of the man. I have to give the woman credit for standing up to him like that too. I could actually feel the hostility rolling off of his body, but she talked him down like he was nothing more than an angry teenager and he didn't do a damn thing besides walk off grumbling incoherently. That's no small feat when you consider that he could probably kill everyone in the building without taking a single step."

"While I'd love to learn more about your theories on who Dr. Briefs is or isn't together with, I'd still rather hear how you think it is that someone can survive the effects of training at elevated gravity and have it actually produce good enough results for it to be efficient," Evan cut in.

"Ah, yes. Well it's my theory that those who can willingly tap into their own energy are in some ways resistant to the detrimental effects of training in high gravity. It is my belief that muscles empowered by this energy can produce a far greater output with far less strain on the body. In fact I'd be willing to believe that it isn't just the body's muscles but the body as a whole. Think about it. The Delivery Boy was kicked straight into a rock formation that shattered upon impact and he came out of the rubble with no more than a tattered _gi _and a few scrapes." Ellis pointed out. "The heart is not taxed by blood becoming increasingly heavier because it is being enhanced by energy. Bone density is not forcefully increased and your spine does not compress upon itself because they are fortified by the body's energy. If my theory is right, so long as one avoids drastically surpassing the body's ability to bolster itself with energy, the negative effects of training in high gravity could be ignored and only the benefits of the resistance training would be taken away from the ordeal."

Evan thought about it for a moment. If Ellis was right it would certainly explain other things as well, like how the bodies of those who fought Cell could physically hold up under the acceleration needed to hit speeds faster than the human eye could follow in an instant. He turned his attention to the strange machine in front of him again.

"So what does this machine do exactly?" he asked.

"Oh, I forgot you didn't know. This here is the machine I repurposed to sense energy levels. It analyzes the intensity of bioelectrical frequencies put off by the body and assigns them a number. The higher the number, the stronger the person appears to be," Ellis explained.

"What's the highest number you've seen recorded so far?"

"Hmm, I think the highest I've seen it when someone is at rest is around fifteen hundred. We managed to get a previous WMAT participant to participate in the experiment, Spopovich I think. Nice guy really, though he seemed a bit frustrated with his loss to Mr. Satan during the 24th WMAT. It honestly makes me anxious to think what kind of numbers the fighters at the Cell Games could put out."

There was a moment of silence as the three remembered Bulma's words the day before.

"_I wouldn't put it beyond the capabilities of even the weakest of the energy fighters present at the Cell Games to be able to blow up this planet with only a fraction of their power."_

"So anyways…I'm currently trying to determine how varying degrees of physical exertion effect the intensity of the energy that radiates from the body. So if you wouldn't mind trying to lift the dumbbell again after Kim ups its internal gravity another level," Ellis said.

Evan nervously appraised the situation he was now in. Intense physical activity most definitely hadn't been on his list of things he thought he would be doing when he began working for Capsule Corp.

* * *

"-and that's effectively what the SIRD is. Do you have any questions?" Bulma asked.

Gohan thought over what he had just been told. "So to clarify, the SIRD is a group of scientists who have been told the truth about the Cell Games because their research was approaching the point that would lead them to that conclusion or brush along related truths,"

"Correct."

"-and they know about the existence of alien races,"

"Yep."

"-and while they know I defeated Cell they don't know that _I _defeated Cell," Gohan finished.

"Exactly," Bulma affirmed. "It's up to you whether or not you feel comfortable enough opening up to them, but they're all incredibly intelligent people that you'll be working in close proximity with. If you aren't actively attempting to hide who you are I wouldn't put it past them to put the facts together. Anyways, why don't I introduce you to one of them and get your learning experience started. I'm sure within a few weeks you'll have a good idea of what interests you and you'll be free to work more extensively under the scientist whose work is related to that field."

Gohan nodded and together the two of them exited her office and headed down a hallway. Within a few minutes they had arrived at a room Gohan had become well acquainted with during the time in which the Namekian population had been living on Earth.

"I thought we'd start you off in an area you're already familiar with," Bulma explained as she input the entrance code. The door slid open to reveal a large room. There were several white boards and computers set up along the walls as well as several tables with various tools scattered about them. What really stood out was the large cylindrical structure in the center of the room. It was approximately three meters across and one meter tall, and a control panel jutted out of the ground a slight distance away from it.

Standing at one of the computers was a figure in a lab coat. What drew Gohan's attention to them was the reptilian tail that slid back and forth along the ground. The figure turned around revealing a reptilian face that Gohan placed as being that of a Komodo dragon.

"Ah, Dr. Briefs. Checking to see how I'm adjusting to the new la—who is this?" the lizard man asked, noticing Gohan.

"Dr. Drake, this is Son Gohan. He's a new member of the Gifted Youth program as well as the most recent inductee into the SIRD," Bulma said. "He's the son of a family friend and I'm having him work under you for the day while we try to figure out which of the scientists is working in the field closest to his interests."

"I see," Drake said, looking skeptical. He turned to address Gohan. "If you take a picture it will last longer."

"O-oh I'm s-sorry. It's j-just I've n-never seen, only r-read about—" Gohan stammered out, embarrassed to have been caught staring.

"Yes, yes. That's what they all say. I understand that reptilian anthropomorphics are much less common than the mammalian ones, but you'd think that someone who was accepted into the Gifted Youth program would have the decency not to stare," the scientist said exasperatedly.

"I see there's been some miscommunication," Bulma said. "You see, Gohan's lived in a remote region of the land near Mt. Paozu for his entire life. He's been down to the more populated parts of the world a handful of times at best so I wouldn't be all too surprised if this is the first time he's actually come face to face with an anthropomorphic."

Drake looked surprised for a moment before he sank into contemplation. "Mt. Paozu…so then…then that would mean…" he murmured. The lizard man looked back up at Gohan. "I apologize for my initial reaction. I've had some less than pleasurable experiences with people's ignorance."

"No, it's no problem at all," Gohan said. "I'm sorry for staring."

"Well you two seem to have worked things out so I'm going to leave you be. Make sure not to break anything," Bulma said, leaving the lab and letting the door slide shut behind her.

Drake looked around the lab for a moment before turning back to Gohan. "Well I'd love to give you a crash course in my field of study, or at least figure out what you need to learn to understand a crash course. What level are your studies at?"

"Hmm, well for most subjects I'm around the level of a starting first year high schooler, but Bulma's been sending me video lectures on Capsule Theory for a few months now so I'm pretty sure I've got a good grasp on the level of mathematics I needed to learn to understand them," Gohan said.

"Really now? That's far better than I would have guessed. I should have assumed you didn't get accepted into the Gifted Youth program on a fluke or favoritism," the lizard man chuckled. "Of course that does mean I don't really have anything for you to do until I get a better handle on what everything in this lab is and does."

"What exactly is it you study?" Gohan asked, thinking about the possible reasons Bulma might have put the scientist in this room in particular.

"As a generalization I specialize in the theory and development of systems of propulsion. In laymen's terms I develop vehicles of transport. My current project deals with developing a space faring craft that can quickly and efficiently hit relativistic speeds for convenient travel within the solar system."

"What do you want to do with interplanetary travel within the solar system?" Gohan asked.

Drake eyed the boy with an inquisitive eye for a moment. "The near extinction of the human race brought about by King Piccolo Daimo several centuries prior to the current day left us with very little history, but some old documents suggest that we stood on the edge of finally reaching out beyond the confines of our own planet. Before, I was simply inspired by the thought of Earth's people spreading beyond our home planet, but now? Now that I know there are alien races out there that can actually cross the open expanses of the galaxy between solar systems in a timely fashion it inspires me to do my part in introducing Earth's people into the galactic sphere."

Gohan chuckled. "I suppose it makes sense why Bulma chose to put you in _this _room above all others," he said, walking over to the cylindrical structure.

Drake gave him a curious look. "Oho? Now why would that be?"

"Because," Gohan said, pressing a few buttons on the control panel to boot the machine up. The entirety of the structure's surface seemed to grow translucent and a three dimensional image of the Milky Way Galaxy appeared within the machine. "Bulma has the galactic map set up in this lab."

"Well I'll be," the Komodo dragon said, walking up to the machine. "This has to be one of the most fascinating pieces of machinery I've ever seen. Do you know how accurate it is?"

"I'm not entirely sure actually. The last time I used this I was around six or seven and if I know her at all Bulma's probably wheedled some information out of Vegeta or hacked the space pod my father came back in and updated the database. Probably a combination of both now that I think about it. She's not really the kind of person to do things in half measures," Gohan explained, sifting through menus in an attempt to look for the commands he remembered.

"Vegeta?"

"Short, constantly annoyed looking man with black hair that spikes upward like a flame. Also happens to be the father of Bulma's son and lives on the premises."

"The one who attacked Cell after he killed the young lavender haired man yes?"

The question gave Gohan pause for a moment before he remembered that every member of the SIRD had watched the full events of the Cell Games. "Ah, yes. He's got a nasty temper so it's generally best to stay out of his way, though Bulma seems to have learned how to keep him in check by some means or another. You should probably try to stay out of his way in particular."

"And why is that?"

"Well, um you…you vaguely resemble someone who Vegeta, for lack of a better word…detested," Gohan awkwardly explained, remembering how the scientist had reacted to him staring only a few minute earlier. He cut the man off before he could protest and continued with his explanation. "You see this person's name was Frieza and before my father defeated him in battle he was known as possibly the single strongest person in the galaxy in more ways than one. He was the head of an organization that made regular work of purging all sentient life off of a planet before selling it to the highest bidder as well as running an interstellar dictatorial empire. As might be expected of someone in that line of business he was a sadist of a remarkable caliber. I can only imagine what kind of torture he might have put Vegeta through while using him as collateral to keep the Saiyan race in line," Gohan trembled in anger as he remembered the cruelty Frieza had taken a malicious pleasure in inflicting upon those who had fought against him on Namek, creating indents in the metal of the galactic map's control panel with his hands.

"How important is he that he could be used as collateral?" Drake asked.

"Vegeta is the last prince of the Saiyan race and with him in hand Frieza was able to prevent any Saiyan that might have thought of gathering a rebellion from doing so, not that many would have. From what Vegeta has said, the Saiyans served Frieza rather faithfully. However, they eventually became more powerful than Frieza was comfortable with them being and he annihilated their planet along with almost every single member of the race. As far as we know the Saiyan race now consists of a single full blooded individual and two half-bloods," Gohan explained.

"One of which would be you I assume?"

Gohan froze. "How…?"

"Several things actually, though your reaction just now was the confirmation," the scientist said. "Mt. Paozu is several thousand kilometers from West City and it would take several hours even one way on the fastest means of transportation on and off the market and the fighters at the Cell Games could move at speeds far faster than the human eye can follow as well as fly which suggests that they can outpace even the fastest of the prototype vehicles I've been working on in my spare time. Secondly, the rather noticeable indents you left in the casing of the control panel shortly after mentioning this Frieza's penchant for cruelty shows you have strength far stronger than the average adult, let alone a child your age. The third clue towards the truth is that your hair style is quite similar to that of the boy who defeated Cell, sans the golden coloration and more pronounced spikiness. This inconsistency is of course remedied by the fact that the lavender haired man, who I know for a fact had Saiyan blood in him, performed a transformation in which his hair turned golden and rather noticeably spiked."

"Huh," Gohan muttered, surprised that he had already given away so many clues without even trying, though it hadn't been him that had let it be known that he lived in the area near Mt. Paozu. Bulma had certainly been right in thinking that the members of the SIRD could quickly put the pieces together if he didn't actively try to conceal his nature.

"Now that that cat is out of the bag, if I could return the conversation to our previous topic?" Drake asked. "You mentioned that Frieza ran an empire. Is there a possibility that you can display how expansive it was?"

Gohan blinked before turning his attention back to the console. "Funnily enough I was actually looking for—Ah! There it is." Gohan pressed a series of buttons on the console and the image shown by the machine focused in on sizable portion of the galaxy. Within moments a good deal of the screen was overlaid by a purple coloring.

"The areas covered in purple are roughly the areas that were controlled by the Kold Empire. If I zoomed the image in we would probably be able to see more specifically which planets or solar systems it contained and such," Gohan explained.

"Fascinating," Drake's eyes lit up with scientific curiosity as Gohan fiddled with the view. The two of them lost track of time as their fascination with the surprisingly in depth plethora of information machine held consumed them. They were only interrupted by the sudden sound of the P.A. system turning on.

"_Hey there you two. I know you're probably busy with something or another but I just wanted to let you know that there's food ready compound's cafeteria. Taking into consideration how your father ate I've decided to give you a fifteen minute head start to avoid ruining the other employees' appetites Gohan."_

Gohan perked up at the mention of food. His appetite was nothing compared to what his father and Vegeta could put away on average but he still ate several times what a normal human did, especially now that he'd taken up training again. He reached the door faster than the eye could follow and seemed ready to bolt when he turned back towards Drake. "Are you coming?"

The lizard man couldn't decide whether or not he was more shocked by his first personal viewing of someone showcasing superhuman ability had happened courtesy of a boy who probably wasn't even in his teens yet, or the fact that its trigger had been little more than the promise of food. After a moment he regained his composure.

"Yes of course, though I'll have to ask you to be my guide," he said, walking towards the door where Gohan was still impatiently waiting. "I don't quite know my way around yet and would rather avoid getting lost if I can help it."

* * *

**A/N: And that's the end of Chapter 7. What did you all think of Evan now that he's had more than a tiny bit of characterization and has gotten the chance to openly interact with several of the characters? I'm hoping I've made certain aspects of his personality clear enough to catch.**

**I decided shortly before starting to write this chapter that I was going to give the anthropomorphic animal population of the DBZ world a bit of representation. Mammalian creatures tend to have a lot more representation but the Red Ribbon Army did have several crocodile/alligator men in it so I thought why not go with a Komodo dragon? My after the fact justification for not making note of it in the previous chapter is that Evan has been working in Capsule Corp for a few months by this point and is relatively desensitized to the "out of the norm" and doesn't pay it too much attention. That and he was far too excited with the meeting's premise.**

**On a semi-related note I decided to actually go and read the original Dragon Ball. I know that it's common knowledge that he survived a pistol shot to the head the first time he and Bulma meet, but within a few chapters of that he's already survived an ax to the head and some sort of sub-automatic gun barrage to the back from Bulma as well XD. It's also somewhat disturbing to realize that the merciful Goku everybody knows from DBZ probably has the second highest kill count of the group's fighters. I'd hazard a guess at his kill count being anywhere from the low tens to nearly a hundred depending on how many of the Red Ribbon Army members he killed in total. It certainly didn't **_**look **_**like many of those attacked by him in his raid on their base survived, and pupiless eyes tends to be more often a sign of being dead rather than unconsciousness from what I can recall in the case of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.**

**Oh and for those of you wondering, 1 kilo = ~2.2 lbs.**

**Be sure to let me know what you think :D**


End file.
